“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.” I Corinthians 13:11

If you work with children in any occupation, more than likely you’ve been taught about child development. It’s important that everyone recognizes the various stages of growth, and what each child should accomplish by a certain age. These achievements are called milestones. It’s how we measure growth.

For example, we all expect our baby to roll over on his or her own by four months of age; to sit up by six months of age; and to walk by twelve months. If a twelve month old can’t even roll over by four months, it’s a red flag that development could be delayed. Why is it important to note growth and development?

In other words, what’s the big deal if an infant doesn’t learn a particular milestone? The big deal is that this lack of growth could affect this child’s entire life: from how they think, speak and move. Not growing and maturing is a big deal!!

It’s important to note growth so that you can address any delays; to intervene in an effort to help this child become a successful independent adult.

Paul was doing this very thing in chapters 5 and 6 of Hebrews. To sum it all up in a nut shell he says, it’s time for you to grow up! It time to move to another level! It’s time to proceed to advanced teaching. (Hebrews 6: 1-3)

Raising your newborn baby is a wonderful experience: the joy and excitement is priceless. But you don’t want your baby to stay a baby forever! How do I know this? Because we teach them to eat with a spoon, to say please and thank you, to read and write, to ride without training wheels and to make good decisions. We teach them to grow, mature and advance. WHY? Because we are equipping them for life! We don’t want our children to become helpless adults.

Not growing and maturing spiritually can affect us the rest of our lives. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to stay baby Christians forever; He doesn’t want us to be helpless; He wants us to advance!  God wants to equip us for success, so we can live a good and abundant life! He wants the very best for each one of us.

HEAR THIS: God wants to take you to another level!! The Holy Spirit will teach you all that you need to know (John 14:26). All you have to do is ask, read His Word and talk to God. Like any good parent, He will guide you gently at your own pace. In other words, it’s time to grow up.

He loves you and wants to see you prosper beyond your wildest dreams.