I’m a totally unbiased grandparent who undoubtedly has the most amazing granddaughter in the world. Samantha lives in the Philippines, which means we only get to see her once a year. Our first exposure to her was just two weeks after she was born. She was totally helpless. The list of her accomplishments in a day included eating, sleeping, crying and messing her diaper. Of course, at that age everything revolved around her and she was blissfully unaware of anyone else’s needs. My joy early every morning was to hold Samantha for a couple of hours as her parents recovered from another sleep deprived night.
The next time we saw her she was one year old and showing signs of becoming more independent. She could take a few steps, say a few words and drink from a cup. By year two she was running and talking and eating pretty normal food and didn’t even need diapers anymore.
We recently returned from visiting Samantha in the Philippines where she had just turned three. We were definitely surprised at how much she had changed in ten short months. She could ride a bike, tell her dad that he was eating too many carbohydrates, use the telephone to order room service and help her parents with a few simple chores. She even showed grave concern when the end of her Lola Sharon’s finger was cut off. In the evening when the phone rings, it’s often Samantha calling from the Philippines to find out how her Lola’s finger is. She’s compassionate, funny, growing more articulate and changing right before our very eyes. And we’re so proud of her.
It is normal for kids to grow and change and highly unusual if they don’t. The same should be true of every Christian. There should be noticeable differences between a new Christian and one that has been following Christ for a number of years. Becoming like Christ is the expected norm for all of us and we should never be satisfied with just remaining the same year after year. Every parent’s expectation and joy is to watch their child grow and mature. Imagine God’s joy and pleasure as He watches His children grow and mature into the image of His Son.
“Then we will be grown up in the faith. We will receive everything that Christ has for us. We will no longer be babies in the faith….We will grow up into Christ in every way.” (Ephesians 4:13-15)
