#TimetoGrowUp

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The Building Blocks to Maturity as gleaned from the Luke account of The Boy Jesus in the Temple at 12.

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Introduction

I realized early on that it doesn’t take much to get older. You can get caught up in the daily responsibilities to survive life and one day realize you’re not so young.
It doesn’t take much to get older. You can get caught up in the daily responsibilities to survive life and one day realize you’re not so young.
I remember when it dawned on me that the outside world viewed me as an adult. I was at the bank in my 20s, waiting in line to do what adults do at the bank when a boy, no older than 2 or 3 approached me and smiled. I smiled and waved back and we kind of just looked at each other when the mother came and pulled the toddler back, saying “Stop bothering that man!”
I was like “Man? What man?” “Oh that’s right, I am a man and have been for some time now.” I realized that the world didn’t see me as a kid interacting with kids anymore, that I could now be considered a threat to children.
Getting older is inevitable.
The passage of time happens whether we're enjoying it or not. 5 seconds from now you will be older than you were at the beginning of this sentence. Getting older is inevitable. But while Getting older is inevitable; growing up is intentional.
Getting older is inevitable; growing up is intentional. #TimetoGrowUp
It is a conscious, concerted effort to live life better than the day before. I agree with Muhammad Ali that said that “a man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”
If all I’m looking forward to as a 31 year old married man is living in a college dorm like I did in undergrad, then something has gone horribly wrong in the maturation process. I should looking for a house. I should have house expectations.
How many of you seen Birdbox?
There’s a scene where Sandra Bullock goes into the kitchen at night, and while the whole scene is supposed to be ominous and suspenseful, I’m thinking, “Man, that sure is a nice kitchen.” I wouldn’t have been thinking about that at 21. But now I’m in my 30s, those types of things are important to me.
As you go through life and gain a better understanding what it’s about, your expectations and desires ought to adjust to your understanding.
As you go through life and gain a better understanding what it’s about, your expectations and desires ought to adjust to your understanding. #TimetoGrowUp
The same as in our walk with God. If all I can point to in terms of what God has achieved in my life is my conversion experience, then we have a lot more growing to do.
If all I can point to in terms of what God has achieved in my life is my conversion experience, then we have a lot more growing to do.
Because if I am keeping in step with God through the years, it is impossible to have as my only testimony that I’m glad I’m saved. Yes, I’m glad I know Him and He knows and wants me, but in what other ways has He moved in my life? In what ways has He used me to make people’s lives better? In what ways do I understand and worship God now than when I did when I first believed?
Getting older is inevitable; time will pass and before you know it, you’ve been in church 20 years and are still nasty to people. But growing up in your faith is an intentional process.
So what’s involved with Maturity? What’s the ins and outs of growing up?
With this text that we just read, we see a 12 year old Jesus coming of age and beginning His journey. We don’t know what happened to Him between 12 and 30 when He begins His ministry, but Luke assures us that “He grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” And I believe in this story there are some elements, some building blocks that we can glean to be assured of Maturity in our own lives. You mind if we examine?

I. Commitment in Maturity (vv. 41-42)

First, there must be commitment in Maturity.
Commit literally means, “put with”. Suggesting to commit involves putting actions with your words.
Commitment is a commodity that all are willing to receive, but not all are willing to reciprocate.
We want people, institutions, organizations, and businesses, to be committed to us, but if we’re honest, we don’t always dish out commitment at the same level we expect it from others. But here’s why we need to re-consider our commitment: Your commitment in your present process has the capacity to preserve your potential.
Your commitment in your present process has the capacity to preserve your potential. #TimetoGrowUp
Your commitment to what and who are before you right now, is able to save you in the future. Your commitment is a seed for a harvest of blessing and favor down the line.
Joseph and Mary committed as Luke 2:22-24 and Luke 2:41-42 says, to fulfilling all of the requirements of the Mosaic Law concerning their son Jesus and their own purification. And their commitment to doing so ensured that the baby God entrusted to them would become the Messiah that would ultimately save them.
Your commitment in your present process has the capacity to preserve your potential.
It happened to me. When my wife and I began talking, she told me of a moment in college years earlier where I walked across campus in the rain to bring her food because she was not able to move around after her knee surgery.
That act was nothing to me; I totally forgot about it. But it was everything to her.
My commitment to be a friend without pretense in the past preserved for me a wife in the present.
So what’s involved in commitment? What are the nuts and bolts?

It Involves Routine

Routine in the things of God establishes your reliability to God. #TimetoGrowUp
Routine in the things of God establishes your reliability to God. #TimetoGrowUp
Joseph and Mary could not have been trusted with the awesome responsibility to parent the Son of God, Who was to be the fulfillment of the Law, if He did not see in them their own personal ability to keep the Law themselves.
Luke 2:41-42 says they went every year to the Passover festival. Which means that Joseph didn’t start obeying the law all of a sudden when Jesus was born. Matt 1:19 says Joseph was “faithful to the law”. And such a man who is faithful to the law can be trusted to parent the One who is to fulfill the law.
You must be faithful in little to be trusted with much. The question on the floor is, “Can God trust you?” Instead of being in your feelings about what you wish God would give you, what are you doing with what He has already given you? How are you currently building a trustworthy record with Him?
God will not trust you with that which you do not already possess.
God will not trust you with that which you do not already possess. #TimetoGrowUp
Before David was a king, he had a king’s spirit. He was guarding sheep and killing bears and lions before he stepped into his kingship.
To be the CEO, you must be a CEO before you are the CEO. You MUST have a CEO mindset and potential.
Before God called me to preach at 16, I was writing my own church speeches at 9 years old.
Routine in the things of God establishes your reliability to God.

It Involves Resolve

Your routine feeds your resolve.
Resolve is determination. It is a firm decision to see a thing through to a desired outcome. #TimetoGrowUp
Resolve is determination. It is a firm decision to see a thing through to a desired outcome. #TimetoGrowUp
Resolve is follow-through. You can not hold back.
The journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem is 3 days by foot. That takes resolve. You have to say, “Come hell or high water, it’s happening.”
Anyone playing professional sport involving throwing or swinging understands the concept of following through on your throw or your swing. I must commit to going the full range of motion if I want the ball to go anywhere. And what helps me achieve the full range of motion? Stretching. It will keep me flexible to experience the full range of motion in my body with as little limitation as possible. If I do not commit to stretching, I will risk injury by overexerting myself, or possibly not give 100 in my swing or throw because I know I haven’t stretched.
If I am going to have resolve, I have got to routinely stretch in my faith-walk with God. Stretching daily in His Word, Stretching daily with Him in prayer, Stretching daily when I give to and help others. Your Resolve in your life and your assignment is only as good as your routine.

It Involves Resiliency

And when resolve and routine are in place, resiliency can find a permanent home.
Resiliency is you seeing your obstacles become catapults. Seeing your stumbling blocks become stepping stones. Seeing your limited potential become launching pads.
If you handle your setbacks properly you may not always get to where you want to be, but you will end up exactly where you need to be.
If you handle your setbacks properly you may not always get to where you want to be, but you will end up exactly where you need to be. #TimetoGrowUp
Because your progress is monitored, managed and measured by God.
Joseph and Mary were so committed that they gave birth in a stable with a manger, a trough, an animal feeding apparatus, for a crib. That was not where they wanted to be. They, like every normal human being, were trying to be in an inn. But after knocking on every inn door (commitment), they ended up where God wanted them to be to fulfill the prophecy.
If you keep up your routine and resolve, you will find the resiliency you need to overcome your setback.
If you keep up your routine and resolve, you will find the resiliency you need to overcome your setback. #TimetoGrowUp
In college, I had a friend call me in tears over a setback - she was a couple of points away from a B in one of her classes. I encouraged her to visit the professor’s office hours and plead her case, prayed with her. Next day she called back. She met with the professor and explained the situation, He asked her her name, saw she had not missed a day of class, and gave her the points needed for her B. Because of her resolve to do well in school, she maintained a routine, which granted her the grace she needed to be resilient in her commitment.

II. Clarity in Maturity (vv. 43-50)

As I commit to the Lord, He not only preserves my potential through my routine, resolve, and resiliency, but watch this:
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in their journey to Passover were headed from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is at a higher elevation than Nazareth, which means my commitment to God ought to elevate my thinking. It introduces me to His higher standard. It ought to produce within me a spirit of excellence in all I do.
Not only that, Jerusalem was to the south of Nazareth. One of the Hebrew words for south can also mean right hand, which is a symbol of strength, blessing, authority. This means that commitment to God not only elevated my thinking but it has also empowered my walk. And when God elevates and empowers me in my commitment to Him, I can now achieve clarity.
God’s not going to place in you new standards and His strength and not provide a reasonable level of clarity as to what they are for.
God’s not going to place in you new standards and His strength and not provide a reasonable level of clarity as to what they are for. #TimetoGrowUp
Acts 1:8 “And you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is upon you” so that you may what? Be “witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” Jesus is clear with them as to why they are receiving the power of the Holy Spirit - so that they may be witnesses.
As God elevates and empowers you in your commitment, He will also give you clarity. And what comes with clarity? Here’s a TIP: Truth, Identity, and Peace.

Truth

At the base level if you have clarity, you have a great relationship with the truth. You understand that truth is different from facts.
Facts can change, they are temporal. Truth does not change. It is eternal.
Facts can change, they are temporal. Truth does not change. It is eternal. #TimetoGrowUp
It’s a fact that I’m 31. And that fact will change on my next birthday.
But the truth is, I’m getting older.
Jesus knew Truth; He is Truth personified. At this point in the story, Joseph and Mary ended up leaving the festival without Jesus, realized He was missing a day into the journey, spent a day heading back to Jerusalem, and another day looking for Him until they found Him in the temple.
Luke 2:46 says they found Him in the courts sitting among the teachers in active dialogue, and the teachers are head over heels with His knowledge and understanding of Truth. And because He knew Truth, Jesus was able to understand His Identity.

Identity

When you are able to appreciate and embrace Truth, you’re able to discover your identity.
When you are able to appreciate and embrace Truth, you’re able to discover your identity. #TimetoGrowUp
Your identity is uncovered when you face the Truth of
what’s great about you,
what’s not so great,
your strengths,
your weaknesses,
and your brokenness.
And how do you uncover these things? Same way Jesus did it in Luke 2:46. You listen and you ask questions.
Of course - ask God questions and listen to His answers in His Word. In addition, listen to and ask questions of yourself. What do you say? Why do you say that? What do you tend to do?
Listen to people around you. Those who you trust and those you don’t trust. Because the people you don’t trust may not give a lot of insight on you but a lot of insight on them and why they view you the way they view you. Understand that this is a lifelong process of discovery. As you commit to God’s Truth about you, who you are becomes more clear.
And as you’re going this process of discovery, submit all of that information to God in prayer. Because when you’re honest with God about you, God can use your strengths, He can accommodate your weaknesses, and He can heal your brokenness. But as long as you act like you have it together in God’s presence, you forfeit His help for any assignment He has for you and you will lose sight of your life’s priorities.
Because Jesus knew and interacted with the Truth, He knew His Identity. And because He knew His Identity, He knew the order of His life - what must be of foremost importance to Him. And that understanding the order of His life brought about Peace.

Peace

Peace is more than just the absence of anxiety. It is the presence of order.
Peace is more than just the absence of anxiety. It is the presence of order. #TimetoGrowUp
It is a result of when you accept what is important to God to accomplish in the earth with your life. The alleviation of the anxiety that comes with peace is merely a byproduct of accepting God’s order.
Look at the peace Jesus possessed. Mary, after frantically searching everywhere to find her twelve-year-old son, finally finds Him and asks in Luke 2:48 “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
She basically says, “What’s wrong with you? We were looking everywhere for you.”
And Jesus replies in Luke 2:49. “‘Why were you searching for me?' he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’”
He essentially says, “If you knew Who I was, why were you stressed out about where I was?”
Here is the challenge you will experience to your Peace:
The Peace of your Identity can be anxiety and confusion to those who have not kept up with your development.
The Peace of your Identity can be anxiety and confusion to those who have not kept up with your development. #TimetoGrowUp
And most likely it will be those who have the most access to you that are the most confused about you.
Luke 2:50 says His parents, the ones who experienced angels and dreams about their 12 year old boy and His purpose in the world did not understand Him when He professed that which they experienced 12 years earlier.
There are people that have started with you that will lose you in the process. They’ll say things like “you’re trying too hard.” “You’ve changed.” “It doesn’t take all of that.” And to them they are right because they believe that you have the same aim in life and in God that they have. Because they were lulled to sleep by their own mediocrity they were not keen to the shift in your own standards.
But don’t let their confusion about you distract from the Clarity God has given you about you.
Maintain your personal standards.
Keep going to class.
Keep studying.
Keep loving your spouse.
Keep praying.
Keep praising and worshipping like you do.
Because when you are Committed to God, and you are Clear in the path He has for you, God will develop the Character you need for the purposes He has for you.

III. Character in Maturity (vv. 51-52)

After getting an understanding of Who He is and declaring His purpose, and just having an overall mountaintop experience at Jerusalem, Jesus had to go back down to normal Nazareth. Nazareth. A super small town of about 500 people. Nazareth, a place of which the disciple Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come from there?” It is this place Jesus decides to subject Himself after a great moment of destiny in Jerusalem to living among people that do not understand Him.
At pivotal moments God will lift us up and give us glimpses of who He wants us to be and then drop us right back in the agonizing mediocrity or subpar living that is our lives.
Why does He do that?
Why does give you a business idea, and keeps you under a bad manager?
Why does He affirm His desire for you to be married, and leave you with sub-standard prospects, empty DMs, un-returned texts?
Why does He affirm your ability and desire to remain single, yet keep you around people that treat your singleness as a condition to solve and not a calling to serve?
I hear people say, “God deliver me from people.” While catchy and cute, it’s an incomplete attitude for the believer.
God is not as much about delivering you from people, as He is about developing you with people.
God is not as much about delivering you from people, as He is about developing you with people. #TimetoGrowUp
Could there be times where an environment is so toxic that God has to shift either you or the environment? Sure. But for the majority of life, we’re faced with people who merely annoy us, and we mistakenly call them haters. A hater is someone who is actively standing in the way of your purpose in God, not someone who disagrees with you.
That’s why you are where you are. That’s why, with all the calling and anointing on your life, you are where you are. Because God wants to produce in you the ability to be committed to him, unbothered, unannoyed, loving, forgiving and praying for the people who do not understand you and would otherwise get on your nerves.
That’s Character. That’s Maturity.
News Flash: At your destiny, people will be there. So you might as well develop the wisdom to deal with people right now, in the shadows, while there are only 2 comments on your social media page.
You’re not only where you are to be developed with people, but for people to experience their own development by virtue of your example.
Luke 2:51 says, “but His mother treasured all these things in her heart.” that’s not the first time she did that. 12 years earlier, in v 19, she did the same thing when she birthed Jesus.
God uses your difference to get people to evaluate things about life and living in ways they would not have without your presence.
God uses your difference to get people to evaluate things about life and living in ways they would not have without your presence. #TimetoGrowUp
As much as God was using Mary and Joseph for Jesus’ growth, God was using Jesus for theirs.
And if we are God’s agents for reconciling people back to God, you have to continually be mindful that what you go through and where you go through it is not solely for your benefit. Someone needs to see your example.
Someone needs to think about God in a new way after looking at and hearing you.
Only God knows the amount of people He intends to bless with your example.
Only God knows the amount of people He intends to bless with your example. #TimetoGrowUp
As you stay committed to Him, as you operate with a clear purpose. As you develop your character. The grace of God will increase on your life and people will work with you to achieve His assignment for you on the Earth. Amen? Amen.
Father, thank you for this Word. Let it firmly take root in us. Forgive for wasting time being stagnant in our walk with you. Right now, we commit to You all over again. And in our commitment, give us the Clarity and develop within us the Character we need to accomplish all You have designed for us to do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Copyright 2018 by Christopher D. Barnes. All rights reserved.
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