Growing Pains
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
For the next few days the blog will be in a different format, I will post a fact and then expound about it. I’m going to show how deep the process of a snake shedding its skin can be in relation to our daily lives and walk with Christ.
Sunday night after writing the blog, I decided to actually watch a snake shed its skin. The process looked very painful. It was as if the skin was being ripped away slowly one inch at a time. The snake was crawling over rocks, dirt, and a combination of debris but it kept pushing. I imagined how relieved the snake must have felt once the process was over. How much lighter he was with the dead weight being gone and never to be worn again.
In our spiritual lives the process of growth is pretty much the same. In most cases it’s a slow process of dying to self. It’s a trail of tests, rocky roads, speed bumps, and a combination of spiritual and/or physical attacks, but if we keep pushing the end result is so freeing.
Fact: Shedding is the process by which snakes periodically discard the outer portion of their skin. This activity is under hormonal control and associated with growth.
In order for a snake to grow, it must shed off its old skin. The same is true once we accept Christ. We won’t be able to reach our maximum growth if we don’t shed away our pre-Chirst skin. Once a snake had shed its skin, it can not return to it. It can not backslide and go back to its old habits..
Fact: Most snakes shed their skin 4-8 times per year. The frequency of shedding depends upon many factors, including environmental temperature, frequency of feeding, amount fed at each feeding, and activity level.
Whoa. 4 to 8 times a year. How much closer to God would we be if we did a self exam 4 to 8 times a year? How whole, delivered, and put together would we be? The factors that influence a snake’s need to shed are the same factors we encounter in our lives. What type of environment are you living in? One that is pushing you towards growth, or one that is stunting it? How often do you digest the Word of God and how much are you eating? Like physical exercise the more you work out the stronger you become. So spiritually how much are you bench pressing?
Fact: Young snakes shed more frequently than older ones because growth is relatively rapid in the first few years of life.
Can you remember when you were a babe in Christ? How hungry and thirsty you were? How fast you were growing up in the Word? Even now as a mother, I’m amazed at how fast my baby girl is growing. Its something about the innocence of a child to absorb and soak in everything around them. The older we get the more we know everything and the more we feel we don’t need God as much. The older we get, if we don’t shed our skin, the more set in our ways we get and the harder it is for us to grow.
Today let us continue the process of shedding off our skin so that we may have room enough to receive all that God has for us. God can’t fit a mansion size blessing, into an apartment size space……………………….
No comments:
Post a Comment