"How Do You Know When You've Grown?"

Scripture: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." -Luke 2:52

Many of us have migrated from our respective hometowns to a different place that we call home. This migration occurred because of a job, your mate/spouse, a "fresh start", and other things. Before the migration, you grew up in your hometown, hung around certain people, and always had some elder members of your family around to see how you are doing. Now that God has provided you a little age, you get the opportunity to go back home and visit your family and friends. When you are visiting your family and friends, you notice how they have told you how much you have grown. In the case of guys, you hear people say, "You've grown up to be a handsome man". In the case of the ladies, you heard them say, "You've grown up to become a beautiful woman". It blesses you to hear that, but how do we really know we have grown? Many of us would say that we have grown because we do not do the same stuff anymore we did while you were younger. Some would say because I have kicked my bad habits like smoking or drinking. If we switch this thing spiritually, how do you know when you've grown? Again, you could say the things previously mentioned as far as kicking bad habits and "putting away childish things" as Paul stated. Today's text provides further meat on how you know you have grown.

Our devotional journey today takes us to the Gospel according to Luke. Within this second chapter, we read about the birth of Jesus, the visitation of the angels to the shepherds, Christ being presented in the Temple, and the pre - teen Jesus in the Temple. Today's main scripture is found in the theme dealing with the pre - teen Jesus in the Temple.

This particular episode with Jesus as a pre - teen in the Temple can be found in verses 41 - 52. The story begins where Jesus and His parents came up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover as it was the custom of the day. Once the Feast ended, Joseph and Mary went back home, while Jesus stayed back in Jerusalem. After a day and realizing that Jesus did not travel back with them, His parents called their respective relatives in search of Jesus. As the story goes, they made it back to Jerusalem three days later, only to see Jesus in the Temple, asking questions and listening to the teachers. Then, after they were amazed at what was going down, Mary and Joseph, as typical parents, asked the question in so many words: "Why did you do us like that?", "We've been looking for you". Jesus answers His parents by saying, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?" The text tells us that they did not get what He meant. Sometimes, as parents or concerned brothers and sisters in Christ, we will not always get what others say. When this occurs, you just pray and know that God will provide clarity and understanding in due time! After this episode, as a wise pre - teen, Jesus went back home with His parents and was obedient to them. Do you know that God will bless you for your true obedience to Him? He does not want half obedience, three-quarters obedience, nine-tenths obedience, He needs full and true obedience!

The end of the chapter, our main scripture, tells us how we would know when we have grown. It tells us that Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature". God has allowed so many things to go down in our lives because He wants us to learn from those experiences. He wanted us to obtain wisdom and knowledge in order to do better in the future. If truth were told, we all have some friends that marvel at us and they marvel at us because of our wisdom and we bless God that as we grow older and stronger in Him, He allows us to become more wiser! Then, it says that Jesus grew in stature. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are still living in the same house you lived in as a child, your stature has not grown. If you are still on the same level in God you were twenty years ago, then your stature has not grown. Your stature has grown when people respect and revere the God in you! Your stature has grown when you exercise your faith in a dead situation! Your stature has grown when you can lay your problems down and pick up the problems of your brother/sister in Christ!

Lastly, the text closes by saying that Jesus also increased "in favour with God and man". My brothers and sisters, when God has His hands on you and you have walked upright, He will allow some things to happen just for you! Many of us have received jobs that we were not worthy of and did not qualify for in man's eyes, but you have grown in God enough to receive favor with Him and man to receive that job. Many of us have houses we live in and though our credit was jacked up and things did not quite line up originally, God worked it where you obtained favor in His eyes and then, man's eyes, to obtain that home! Many of us have went on lots and been able to get the car of our dreams and it was because God had favored you and then, man favored you!

In closing, it's good to hear people say how you have grown up to be this and that. It's even a bigger blessing when you know you have grown up in God! You know that you have grown because you have increased wisdom, stature, favor with God, and favor with man. Just in case you have not reached this level of maturity, keep living life and serving God and these things will come to pass!