Are You Advancing?

1 Peter 2.1-5
1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Genesis 19.26
But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

An uncomfortable but necessary question we must ask ourselves periodically is, “Am I growing?” What a simple, innocently framed reflective inquiry, but within that question is packed a plethora information pertaining to the very health of our spiritual health. Many of us are afraid to ask that question. We are as the man afraid to go to the doctor for fear something might be fatally wrong. But, beloved, the vitality of spiritual growth in our own life is an essential mineral for the Christian soul. That is why Peter tells us to be “like newborn babies [and] crave spiritual milk, so that by it [we] may grow up in [our] salvation.” Like a newborn babe, we need doses of spiritual milk to help us grow. A mother’s breast milk is designed not only to provide an infant with nutrients he or she needs to grow, but also minerals used to keep the child’s immune system effective. Likewise, it is we who, upon craving the spiritual milk to grow and prosper in the Lord, receive the nutrients we need to submit to God and resist the devil.

How do we grow? How can we be sure we are advancing purposefully into and for the kingdom of God? Paul lays out the groundwork in Philippians 3: 13b: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” The strongest evidence of advancement in the Christian’s life is his desire to “press on” for God. What are your affairs? Are they Christ’s? Are you using every thought and opportunity for action towards His kingdom? Action requires movement, and movement requires our hearts, our minds, and our hands to be ready to serve the Gospel.

What are some methods employable to advancing ourselves for God? One of the chief methods we see outlined in Hebrews 11: model yourself after a Biblical or godly mentor. We ought to strive to model ourselves after the faith heroes of Hebrews 11. This requires constant action and self-improvement which prevent stagnation of the heart and weariness of pursuing God fully.

Prayer is the chief method of advancement. When we pray, God reveals to us our weaknesses, strengths, goals and ambitions. Prayer is a time of unbridled intimacy with God. The more we spend in it, the more He consumes us. We must make it a conscious effort every day to be hungry for prayer. It is not a religious ritual, but a personal conversation with our Lord and Savior. In it He reveals His will and desires for our own personal growth for the use in His kingdom.

Are you advancing daily in your faith? Are you growing more intimate with God so that you are in His will and He entangled in your heart? What a beautiful entanglement it is to have Jesus centered in your heart, infecting you with His love and purpose every heartbeat you have. The more we grow, the closer we detect His presence.