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Food forGrowth
WhenI was a child, back in thoseyearswhenI wasstill known as "Pee-Wee,"wanteddesper-ately togrow.Mymom wouldperiodicallymea-sure my heightagainst the wallinmy room,andIwould stretch as hardasIcouldtobea littletaller.As I laterbecameaparent,Isaw myownchildren do the same hing. Every child,itseems,wantstogrowup bythe day aftertomorrow,butitcan't be done.That is a frustratingthingto learnwhen yournamearound the neighborhoodis "Pee-Wee.""But I wanttogetbigge4" I wouldprotest."Howcan I make myselfgrow?"As a wiseadult,whatyouwouldprobablysays,"Son,youcan'tmakeyourself grow.Growing up takestime.Buthere'swhatyoucan do:Youcan eatgoodood, exercise,and enjoy being an eight-year-old.Don'tbe soworriedabout becomingagrown-up.Havefunright nowbeing whoyouare.You'llgrowupsoonenough."I frndChristianswhoare worriedandboth-ered o thepointofmakingthemselvesabsoluteemotional wrecks, worriedovertheprogressthey think they "should"bemaking intheir'
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FoodorGrowth'23Christiangrowth.Howeve4youcannotmakeyourselfgrowspiritually anymore thanyoucanmakeyourself growphysically.Weforget thatitis God who isinthebusinessof conformingus tothelikenessof Christ(Romans8:29). Weforgetthat it is ".EIe hobegan agoodworkinyou[andlwill carryitonto completion untilthe dayofChrist Jesus"(Philippians1;6).This is not to say thatwe have zo decisionomake orroletoplay.After all, theBible saysthatweshould"work out our salvationwithfearandtrembling"(Philippians2:12). But weneedto beclearon what thatpassagemeans.Aftersaying in verse12 hat we should "work out"oursalvation,Paul says, "for it is Godwho worksinyoutowiIIand to act accordingto Hisgoodpurpose."So once againwe find thatin theChristian life, Godinitiates and manresponds.In fact, my working definition of"responsibil-ity" is "my response o God'sability."You cannot makeyourself grow physically,butyoucan "eatgoodfood, exercise, and enjoybeing an eight-year-old."In our spirituallives,wecannotmake ourselvesgrowingrace,butwecandosomehings: We can eatgoodood, exer-cise, and enjoy walkingthrough life as a childofGod asHegrowsus in His time. Butwhat doImean by "eatinggoodfoodand exercising"?This is where I want to addresspersonalBiblestudy and our relationshipswithin the body ofChrist.Thesesubjectshave often been terriblytwisted. We have taken these activitieswhichshouldbenatural and enjoyableoverflowsofour22
 
24. Boh George
life in Christ and ourpersonalrelationship withHim, and turned them into disciplines.There snogreaterway toruinthesewonderfulprivi-leges we have as children of God orto rob us ofourjoyin knowing Him than to view them asdisciplines-thingsyouhaue o do "in order tobe agoodChristian."When I was born againinChrist,IcametoHim as a 36-year-old man whoknewabsolutelynothing of the things of God.I had no religiousteaching in my backgroundto speak of. AII Iknew the dayI receivedChristwas hat "Godsoloved theworldthat HegaveHis one and onlySon,hat whoever believesnHim shallnotper-ish but have everlasting life"(John3:16). wassimply overwhelmed withthe ideathat Godactuallyloved ze!And I openedup my Bibletolearn more. In fact, over the next couple ofyearsI buried myself inGod'sWord to thepointthatmy wife, Amy, thought I had a blackleatherface!Naturally,Ididnotunderstanditall.Therewere manypartsof theScriptures that weremysterious to me,and, asmanyyoungChris-tians do, Icameup with some anciful ideasandinterpretations that seem silly tometoday. ButGod didrevealHimself tome,and He did teachme a solid understanding ofHis Wordover time.Ilook back at those earlyyearsofmyChristianexperienceas someof themostjoy-filled timesofmy life. I truly came o God "as a ittle child" andleaned totally on my heavenly Father to teachme.FoodorGrowth'25Nobody oldme I hadto study theBible, andI'mgladthey didn't.I simply openedGod'sWordand readit, because hatis what I wantedto domore than anythingon earth.Let mepasson toyousome tipsthathave helped manypeoplediscoverhegreatexperienceofpersonally dig-ginginto the Wordof God.First,readtheBible in ordertogetto knowChrist,notusttoearnBiblefacfs.Wehave beencalled tn arelationslzip. Jesus said,"Now this iseternallife: that theymay know You, he onlytrueGod,and Jesus Christ,whomYouhavesent"(John17:3).Paulwrote, "Iconsiderevery-thing a loss comparedothe sur.'passingreatnessof knowingChrist Jesusmy Lord'(Philippians3:8).Don't makethe same mistakeIdid,later,whenI strayed frommypersonalrelationshipwith Christintodryknowledge andbarren ser-vice. Don'tgetonthat terribletreadmill of the"searchfor somethingmore." Don'tfallfor thedeception ofbelieving thatwe start out withChrist, then"graduate"to the "deep things" ofGod. JesusChristiseverything.There is noth-ing "deeper" thanknowing Himintimately!That is what wewill do throughout eternity-discover and enjoythe wonders ofHim. We'llnevergetto the endof all thatHe is.I haveearned thatif Igotothe Bible merelyto learnfacts, I'llgetthosedry facts, butnoth-ing else.However, fIgotothe Bible desiringtomeetpersonallywiththe Lord, He will openmyheart to knowHim,andteachme biblicalfactsat the same time.I
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26. BobGeorgeWe arenotdealingwithareluctantGod
whose arrn wemusttwistinordertogetHisattention.Heearnestlydesires us. He wants topourouttouslife in abundance andoybeyondmeasure. Thepossessionof God's Word is anunspeakable blessing. What a tragedyitisforsomeone o seeBiblestudy as a"discipline,"adrudgery, and an unrewardingduty thatwe"have" toperform!'Second,study dependently. We must studyGod'sWord with the firm conviction that wecannotunderstand spiritual truth on our own.Spiritual understandingissomethingthat mustberevealedbytheSpirit(1Corinthians2:9-16).Only byHispowercanyouunderstand-howwide andlongandhighand deepistheloveof Christ, andto knowthislovethatsurpassesknowledge-thatyoumight be frlled to the measure ofall the fullness of God(Ephesians3:18,19).Anybody, including the lost,canlearntheol-ogy;that is, what the Bible soys.But, if we trulywant to know God and to understand what theBible means, we must approach the Word intotal dependenceupon theInrdtorevealHim-self andHistruth that sets usfree.Rememberthat "God opg)ses theproud,butgives gracetothe humble"(James4:6).Third, read the Blble normnlly, and in lnrgecontexts.Imagine hatyouand I are friends,andFoodorGrowth.27while on along trip overseasouwrite mealongletter. Aftermanymonthsaway,youarrivehome,andfrndme waiting foryouat the airport.I look terribly confusedand worried, asif Ihadbeenin that conditionfor alongtime.Aftergreetingme,youask me whyIseem so dis-tressed."It's this letteryouwrote me," Isay."I'vegone practicallycrazytrying to understandwhatyouaretalking about,but it's a total mys-tery tome." Ipullout ofmypocketseveralpagesof thetatteredletter.'You aregenuinely puzzled,notaware ofany-thing inyourletter that was confusing."Whatin my letter don'tyouunderstand?"youask."It's thispartonpage4i'Ianswer.As Ishowyoutheletter,youcan seethat thepageiscoveredwith lines,notes,anddifferent-coloredhighlights.I continue explaining:"I've been ry-ingtofrgure out this sentencehere, but it doesn'tmake any sense!I'velooked up all the wordsinthe dictionary andwritten out the optional defi-nitions. I consultedEnglishgrammarbooks,and I diagrammedthe sentence.'veasked allmyfriends, and evenmadean appointmentwithmyoldEnglish teacherto ask her opinion.Butnobody can really satisfyme. I've been sit-ting onpinsand needles,waiting to askyoupersonally."Yougiveme ahard look, and ask me slowly,"Bob.That sentencesonpage4. Didyoureadtherest of theletter?""No," I arNiwer.I'vejustbeen studyingthissentence!"
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