Grow Up!

“Oh, grow up, Suzie!” I can still hear my Dad’s voice. (Suzie was my nickname for reasons to be disclosed several blogs away). It was difficult to grow up knowing there were expectations for me.

Once a year Dad closed the kitchen door and revealed the door jamb. With a flourish only Dad could accomplish, he maneuvered us into the corner, “Stand still, did you take your shoes off?
No tiptoes!” He then marked a year’s growth behind the door. We were so proud when we had grown an inch or more. We heard so many acclamations from our parents, proud we had grown since last year.

The door jamb held 10 years of growth marks before we moved to a nearby town. No measuring there, but Mom designed a ‘family tree’ that hung in her dining room in Watonga for many years, then in Rogers, AR, and then in my house. The painting was completed after we left home, after marriages and grandchildren appeared. The trunk of the tree displayed pictures of Mom and Dad. A swing signifying a past life, and Gene’s Teddy Bear Mom made for him lies discarded on the grass.

The grandson that died at birth is signified by a broken branch.

Growth. When our children were growing up, we also decorated a kitchen door jamb with a record of their growth. Four branches, for children. As we moved, I transferred the information plus the annual school picture with us. Again, there was a broken branch for our Donald James Combs.

Moving to Collinsville, IL, we saw that the growth might not be contained on the board with a 6 ft 4 inch, 6 ft 3 inch and 6 ft sons.

There is another kind of growth, a spiritual growth.
Hebrews 6:1-3 (The Message)
So come on, let’s leave the preschool finger-painting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!

This growth cannot be measured with a flourish of Dad’s yard stick and pencil. This growth is like the wind. It cannot be seen, except by seeing the results of a life lived in and through Him. Reading Galatians 5 shows me the gift of the Holy Spirit – the way a Christ-nurtured heart grows.

Galations 5:22-23 (The Message) Sometimes we see the result of the Spiritual Gift, like the result of a brisk wind flowing over our lives, and more often it is a gentle breeze that simply refreshes. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others , exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Spiritual maturity, spoken of in Hebrews 6:1, does not depend on age. It depends on our desire for Him. Matthew 5:6 – (The Message) – You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

It is a way of life, not a temporary diet, to constantly having Jesus on our minds. Seeing life through spiritual eyes like my brother-in-law Howard Dillon. No matter what happened during the day, I was astonished to hear him quote a scripture relating to the event.

B J Thomas wrote lyrics….

Just because I’ve got Jesus on my mind
The situation might look so awful grim
But that’s when I just stop and get my mind on Him
Before you know it
Everything’s just fine
Just because I’ve got Jesus on my mind.

Comments? eacombs@gmail.com