Growing Up
"...I put away childish things." I Corinthians 13
In studying the Beatitudes, we realize that there is a
significant progression in how they are listed. The first
one marks the starting point in the Christian life. No one
comes to God without admitting their need for Him. Jesus
said that those who come to that realization would be
'blessed.'
In
order to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, we must admit our
need of the King. Good works don't count. Intellect doesn't
count. Religious form and ritual won't make the connection.
We simply need God, and we need to know it.
When we come to God, we must come to Him with a humble
heart. We don't lose our personality or abilities. We simply
recognize that in the realm of being acceptable before God
on our own merits, we are poverty-stricken.
No doubt this is true in order that true conversion take
place; but it is also true on a daily basis. How audacious
one is to assume that they can face their day apart from the
guidance and divine strength of the Living God. Therefore,
we continually acknowledge a posture of humility and great
need for Him.
When Isaiah saw the Lord [6:1-5] sitting upon a throne, high
and lifted up, and His train filled the temple, he didn't
say, "What's up?" No, he said, "Woe is me! For I am lost;
for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts."
The depth of such experience is a very present one; yet the
impact of it is intended to be a lasting one. Oh how soon
we forget. The revelation of the Holy One remained with
Isaiah. He prophesied of the Lord in a successive chapter:
"I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who
is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of
the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite." [57:15]
The secret of the Christian life is in total dependence upon
God, as opposed to self-reliance. The typical two-year-old
proclaims, "I'll do it myself." But, when we come to the
Lord, with a desire to grow up in Him, we put away childish
things.
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