02 Aug W3: IT IS TIME!

Posted at 00:10h in Jan, Topics 2024 by

REFERENCE BIBLE VERSES

Hebrews 6:1 | Now is the time for us to progress beyond the basic message of Christ and advance into perfection. The foundation has already been laid for us to build upon: turning away from our dead works to embrace faith in God, (TPT)

OBJECTIVES

To realize without action, growth will be stunted and action allows us to catch up into perfection

CONTENT

  • Time to Grow
    • What happens when we see a new-born baby in the natural realm? Wouldn’t we rejoice at the birth of the baby? However, we would soon feel concerned if that little baby did not begin to develop and grow through infancy and childhood, into adolescence and mature adulthood – and it is the same in the Christian life. The spiritual growth of a believer should be the outcome of our new life in Christ.
    • We are to progress into a deeper relationship with God and develop a more secure faith in Christ’s sufficient grace, in every circumstance of life. This is because our maturity is closely related to our faith.
    • Being a Christian does not mean to sit still – our faith is either growing or dying. In terms of dying, we all know that a field full of dead weeds must be burned—symbolic of judgment—before it can start to produce / grow again (Hebrews 6:8).
  • Time to Take Action
    • In order to grow, we need to take action. And by doing so, we can catch up and elevate ourselves to perfection.
    • It starts with having a desire to grow; We will not grow spiritually if we don’t have a desire to grow.
    • While it is important for us to have the knowledge and doctrines of Christ to grow, we should not waste our time on elementary teachings for too long. If we wait till perfection before we take action, it will be hard for us to grow. Whether it be fear of the world, lack of confidence or any other reasons, only knowing more does not help us to grow and be closer to God. Instead, having faith and taking the leap to do the work will shape us to catch up in our maturity. 
    • Actions that we can do includes praying, Bible study, worship, being involved in communities, and most importantly sharing the Gospel. Most of us often get scared of prosecution and judgment from others that we shy away from taking action even with sufficient knowledge. But know this, God can still use us even with our insufficiency, but it all starts with our desire to be used by God.
    • As we take that leap of faith despite our inadequacy, we can be shaped by God to fill in what we are missing, and grow in faith as a result. Letting God work in us will always accelerate our growth, rather than us continuing to try to understand God with only our knowledge. 


REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTION

  • Do a personal evaluation of your spiritual growth; are you progressing forward every year?
  • Share an experience when you are put in a position you initially didn’t feel qualified for, but ended up growing into the position after taking that leap of faith.


RESOURCES