“Keep Growing and Growing and…”

Most human beings reach an age where they stop growing taller and bigger.  I personally have been 5’9″ tall for nearly thirty years.  But God has created some animals with growth patterns that are different than human patterns.  Lobsters, for example, will continue growing until either preyed upon or killed.  Recently a 20 pound lobster was discovered and believed to be 140 years old!

As you assess your personal spiritual growth patterns, are you more like a human or a lobster? 

Do you place a limit on your love for others?  Does your faith have a stopping point?  Take this Scripture verse to heart today:  “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing (2 Thessalonians 1:3).”

Here’s the intriguing part about that verse: at that time, the Christians in Thessalonica were getting hammered by vicious persecution.  They were threatened.  They were harassed.  They endured losses of all kinds.  Any day could become their last day on earth, simply because they loved Jesus.  But were they paralyzed with terror?  Was difficulty causing them to doubt God’s promises?  Did religious bullying prevent them from loving people more and more?   Did their faith shrink?  Did their love for Jesus run dry?

No!  Their faith in Christ, and love for each other kept growing like a lobster, in spite of dangers and earthly pressures. And the same can be true for you.  Financial pressures come, but more than ever you trust, “The Lord Jesus will never abandon me.”  Bullying happens, but instead of bullying back, you respond with a loving comment.  Someone disappoints you…but does your love for them shrink?  Not at all – it’s just more reason than ever to pray for them.

The lobster never stops growing until the day they die.  Let your Christian love and faith be the same!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep my love and faith growing like a lobster all the days of my life.  Teach me to love others as you have loved me.  Help me be more patient and alert to the needs of others, that I am always ready to serve them with the gifts you have given me.  Prevent me from being trapped by self-seeking doubts.  Then I will always be an instrument of your peace, love and joy no matter where I go, and no matter what I do.

Nathan Buege
Pastor, Victory of the Lamb Lutheran Church
Katy, TX