He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. (Ephesians 4:12-13, The Message)
Is your golf game full developed, or are you still learning? Are you committed to being a fully developing learner of this wonderful game? I find that the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. I hear others talk about the game or read an article in a golf magazine that makes so much sense, and I want to go out and apply this lesson to my developing game in hopes of returning a lower score.
What does this look like in our spiritual development? Are we fully developing followers of Jesus?
In many of our local Links Fellowships here in Texas, we use a metaphor for our spiritual journey as “moving our stakes closer to Jesus everyday.” It matters not where you are now, but more importantly in what direction are we moving. Are we moving closer to Jesus, or are we moving away? It is our deep desire through reading, study, and fellowship with each other that we are in fact moving that spiritual stake closer to him.
It is a process. It is good to show up and hear God’s word, but it is better to hear God’s word and then take time to study this word. Not just reading, but also an in-depth study. What does this mean? What is the context? And most importantly, it is in applying truth that we begin to see faith develop and become an integral part of our everyday lives. At one Fellowship I attend, we study the verses under consideration, identify the key verse, but then try to answer the question as to how this applies to us today. How do I become obedient to this truth from God, so that I can be a fully developing follower of Jesus Christ?
I have come to understand the truth that our faith cannot be lived out in isolation. We can hear, read, and study, and even memorize, but if we are not connected to our fellow strugglers and overcomers along the way, we lose an important element in this process. To be fully developing, we must be planted in community with others who have the common goal of moving our stakes closer to Jesus. It makes a huge difference. The early church knew that the variety of gifts given to each other were meant to edify and encourage fellow believers who were developing into the men and women that God intended them to be.
So when one asks, “How is your spiritual life developing,” we can respond with “Moving daily closer to Jesus. I am not where I once I was and not where I really hope to be in the future, but by his grace, I am moving in the right direction.” I continue to pray that local Links Fellowships across this country are enabling men and women to become more fully developing followers of Jesus. Our eyes may be diminishing, but our goal is becoming clearer. Our stakes and our hearts are moving in the right direction.
—
Randy Wolff
February 10, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.