Have you ever had the opportunity to see a child in the family grow up? You've at least seen a child grow, if not heard stories from your elders. I am watching my children grow up, but I remember going on a walk with JT (or Tobit as we called him), my nephew, Chadd, his father, my clone, and my dog, Gus (sniff, there are times when I miss him), when Johnathan was just strong enough to walk a few meters. Chadd and I lived at the bottom of a long hill and in order to get to the "mountain forest," as little Tobit refered to the park, we had to walk up this hill. It was easy for everyone except Tobit. He couldn't make it; but, with a little encouragement from Chadd, and a year later, he ended up at the top all by himself!

Now lets suppose Tobit didn't want to try on his own; what if he wanted to stay a toddler and have daddy carry him the whole way? If Chadd were to ever be taken from Johnathan, who would carry him? What about when he grew up and his daddy was an old man, would he still be carried?

Like putting on warmer clothes in the winter, growing up is something God does for us so that we can see how growth is to our advantage and almost unavoidable. If we didn't grow, we wouldn't be able to do more, better, or satisfying things. So, just as a child cannot stop growing physically, we as God's children should not stop growing spiritually. What does that entail? Practice (and time) and nourishment (just as it is physically).