Gaining or Just Maintaining - Martin Wiles

You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. Hebrews 5:12b NLT

If I didn’t maintain, I’d gain … so I walked.

Summers for me are tough when it comes to weight gain. During the school year, I’m busy, walking here and there, constantly moving about. But during the summer, things slow down. No kids to keep up with. No copier to walk back and forth to. No trips to the office. Instead, I do a lot of sitting. And the pounds come. Usually, about ten of them, which seem never to disappear when the next school year begins.

Calculating my weight in my head, I knew I could not afford to gain ten pounds each summer. By the time I retired, I would weigh …. Well, we won’t talk about that number. One summer I decided to take action. Instead of walking my normal thirty minutes, I increased it to forty-five. And rather than walking with my normal posture, I decided to square my shoulders and suck in my gut.

My plan worked. That summer, I maintained my weight rather than gained any extra pounds. I also gained a tighter belly where a bulge had once begun to form.

The writer of Hebrews addressed the matter of maintaining, yet he didn’t want his readers to just maintain. He wanted them to gain. They had been believers for quite some time and should have been able to teach others the principles of God’s Word. Instead, they still needed someone to teach them.

In our spiritual journey, maintaining doesn’t exist. If we don’t move forward, we fall backward. A diet of only milk is for babies—and the same is true for spiritual babes. God wants us to learn more about Him and His ways. He wants us to grow in our love for Him and in our service to Him and others.

Gaining takes initiative and a plan. Spiritual growth doesn’t happen automatically, as physical growth does. I can’t place a Bible on my nightstand or under my pillow and expect to gain knowledge.

God gives methods by which we grow—most of which come through action. Reading and applying the teachings of His Word, staying in a spirit of prayer, hanging out with spiritual mentors and friends, serving others, and using our spiritual gifts. When we do these things, we’ll gain—and in the process help move God’s Kingdom forward.

Let God show you what actions you need to take to move forward in your spiritual walk.

Prayer: Father, move us into gaining spiritual ground for You.

Tweetable: Are you gaining or losing spiritual ground? 

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