But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

(2 Peter 3:18NIV)

A lady stood in front of the freezer case at the grocery store, sliding one frozen turkey after another across the cold metal shelf. She lifted them, squinted at the labels, and sighed. One was too small. Another looked promising until she turned it over and saw the weight. Too small again. She checked the next one, then the next, as her frustration grew.

After several minutes of searching, she glanced up and caught the eye of a young stock boy who was restocking nearby. Waving him over, she held up a turkey and asked, “Do these turkeys get any bigger?”

The stock boy paused for a moment.  Trying to be polite but unable to resist the obvious, he answered, “No ma’am, they’re dead.”

It’s a point worth noting: dead things don’t grow.

Only living things grow. Flowers grow until they are cut. Trees add rings year by year. Puppies and kittens grow. Children seem to outgrow shoes overnight. But rocks don’t grow. Furniture doesn’t grow. Frozen turkeys don’t grow. Growth is one of the clearest signs of life.

That simple truth carries an important spiritual lesson. If something is alive, it will grow. And if it’s not growing, it’s worth asking whether it is truly alive.  When we come to Christ, we are given new life.  And new life always moves toward growth.

Growth doesn’t mean perfection. Sometimes growth is slow. Sometimes it’s hard to notice.  But over time, there should be evidence of life. Are we more patient than we used to be?  More gracious?  More grounded in Scripture?  More aware of God’s presence?  Even small changes are signs of living faith.

On the other hand, stagnation should concern us. A faith that never changes, never deepens, never learns, and never loves more fully is not the faith Scripture calls us to. God doesn’t save us and then leave us as we are. He calls us forward. He calls us to grow.

That’s why Peter urges us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  Growth is not optional. It’s the natural result of being alive in Christ.

Dead things don’t grow. Living things do. If we are alive in Christ, growth will follow.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the life you have given us in Christ. Help us not to settle for a stagnant faith, but to grow daily in grace and in the knowledge of your Son. In his name, amen.

Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day