Wholeness In Christ: We Gotta Grow Up

Hey everybody. It feels like I haven't spoken with you in months. Actually it's only been days, but I guess six days feel like an eternity when you've just completed 31 straight days of blogging! If you're new to "Sojourner of Truth," I'll take a moment to bring you up to speed. For the month of July I linked arms with four other ladies to blog everyday for the entire month. My topic was "31 Days of Purpose," and I believe God really met us here. He certainly met me here. You can read any and all of those posts by clicking on the "2011 - July" link in my "blog archive" to the lower right of this post.

So...

Whatever do we do with ourselves now? Well, I've been praying, and God recently gave me an answer to that question. First of all, I will blog regularly, on every Tuesday and Saturday. So tune in twice a week, and I'll promise to meet you here. You can even subscribe to receive my blog posts through your email account. Also to the right of this post, you can find the "Follow by email" box to sign up. (By the way, it's very easy to unsubscribe if you should choose to later.) And please let me know you're following by joining my group of "followers." You can add a photo, or not, if you like.

Secondly, God has given me a new topic for our next series of blogs. For the next month or so, I will blog on the topic of "Wholeness In Christ." I'll spend a few days just explaining what that means, but I'd love to begin the explanation with a movie. You know I love movies...




In the 1988 romantic comedy Big, Josh Baskin is a little boy stuck in a man's body -- literally. After telling a magical fortune-telling machine of his wish to be big, that night his 13-year-old body transforms into the body of a grown man. As an up-and-coming employee at a toy company, he must maneuver personal relationships and business responsibilities that far exceed his teenage mind.

Yet Josh manages, and we learn a lesson about nurturing the little child within us. The memorable scene above, where Josh plays a duet on a foot-operated piano with his boss, encourages us all to experience life with a light heart and jovial spirit.

Even though quite endearing as a Hollywood movie, a little boy going through life in the body of a grown man wouldn't exactly go over well in the real world. Think about it. Would you want your boss, your professor, your spouse or your pastor to look like a grown man or woman, yet really be a kid on the inside? Be honest. It ain't cute at all.

But then again, we know some adults like that, don't we? Ever seen a coworker have a full-blown temper tantrum? Ever wonder if the grown man giving you "the bird" in traffic somehow got mentally stuck in puberty? Ever wonder why some grown folks can't get along any better than toddlers playing together in the sandbox? Whew!

Breathe in, breathe out.

Okay, so... I don't know about you, but just thinking about the immaturity of adults around me can raise my blood pressure.

But think about it. Don't you get stuck in childish ways sometimes? Don't I get stuck in childish ways sometimes? Like the time I found myself yelling at one of my very strong-willed children, with my fists balled at my sides and my feet stomping to give the syllables of my words emphasis. At the time, I was furious that this particular child had refused to go with the flow. But later, I had a good laugh over my own behavior. I mean really, who had the worst temper tantrum -- the child or me?

And I'm only covering one aspect of wholeness when I discuss maturity. Over the next few weeks, we'll uncover more. But before I go let me share something God gave me this morning to tie my July purpose blogs in with this concept of wholeness. It's a math equation of sorts:

Purpose = Go
Wholeness = Come

Now let me break that down in a way that even I can understand. When we pursue our purpose in Christ, we go for Jesus. When we pursue wholeness in Christ, we come to Jesus. In order to pursue our purpose, and go out into the world to represent Him, we've got to come to Jesus so He can fill us up. If we're filled halfway, we can't possibly pursue the purpose He created us for.



"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
God wants to fill us daily with Himself. Let's come to Him. Let's rest in Him. Right now, close your eyes and ask Him to fill you today. And know that I have prayed the same.

Made Whole In Him,

Carla

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Ambassador: His Rise, Fall and Rise Again

Five Things Not to Say to Adoptive Parents

New Wine, New Wineskins