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Growing and Running
God calls each and every one of us toward spiritual maturity. Much of contemporary Christianity emphasizes “getting saved”—being born again—so much, that it forgets the fact that once we are born we need to grow! Just as a human baby needs to develop physically and mentally, so we must mature spiritually.
The Gospel invites us into an intimate relationship with God the Heavenly Father through the person and work of Jesus the Son, by the nurture and care of the Holy Spirit. That relationship is one that needs to develop over the years. Like any genuine friendship, it must deepen in our hearts as we become more real and vulnerable with the One we love. The friendship also widens to affect every area of our lives.
From beginning to end, the New Testament summons us to transformation. As we walk with God, we need to be changed—not simply forgiven but also conformed to Jesus’ very image. For God “predestined [us] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Genuine Christianity is all about becoming like Christ—dying to our old ways of thinking, speaking and doing, in order that Jesus might live through us, not just in theory but in actuality.
Spiritual Classics
The Christian Classics are works written by believers over the past two thousand years that help us do just that. Penned by men and women who pressed on toward that spiritual maturity, the classics welcome us to do the same in our day and age. They offer insight into the growth process, which can help us along the way, especially when we are stuck. They encourage us when we have grown weary and they challenge us in our moments of laziness.
As a student of Church History for over half my life, I have come to appreciate the classics more every year. The godly women and men who wrote them are now part of the great cloud of witnesses described in Hebrews 11 and 12, who cheer us on as we run the Christian race. Many of them suffered greatly during their lifetime, so they have much to say about the role of suffering in the maturation process. They offer genuine encouragement when we are weary and in pain, and they provide notable examples for us in our life situation. Like James, they call us to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect [mature] and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4 NASB).
Invitation to Press On
One of my main reasons for beginning this blog site was to introduce Christians today—of all denominations and backgrounds—to our common heritage in the Church and the wealth of spiritual encouragement and instruction available to us from ardent believers of the past twenty centuries. Through recommending various classics, as well as telling some of their authors’ life-stories, I hope to offer some of their wisdom and insight on the Christian life. By providing quotes from their writings, I hope to whet the appetite of readers to find copies of the classics and make them your own.
Above all, I pray that my blog would stir you to push forward in your walk with the Lord—through inspiring seasons of growth and dull times, when prayer comes easily as well as when it seems so dry and difficult. “I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus,” exclaims the Apostle Paul, even after serving God for many years. “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14 NASB). By God’s grace, let each and every one of us do the same!
© 2013 Glenn E. Myers
