A lot of Christians are on a quixotic search for the magic silver bullet that instantly bestows Luther-like maturity. Not gonna’ happen.

Today was yet another milestone in my recovery from shoulder surgery 4 months ago. I swam 1500 yards with both arms in a single workout. Man, it felt great! It’s taken a lot of consistent hard work to get this far. But there’s a lot of hard work left to go.

There are some interesting parallels here. Improvement with the reconstructed shoulder is gradual and in very small increments when measured day-to-day. But over time, the change becomes significant. The same thing is true with spiritual growth as I’ve blogged on before. Maturity with the renewed man is gradual.

In talking with Cindy and my therapist, both have experienced the same phenomenon - patients who would rather read magazines in the waiting room than start an early workout in prep for the therapy session. Their laziness is directly proportional to both their recovery rate and the end results. While there are rare exceptions, the general rule in physical therapy is that lazy & casual work on the part of the patient means little (if any) improvement.

The same thing is true with following Christ. While our right standing before God is His sole work (monogerism), our growth in Christ is up to both God … and us (synergism.)

And since God never fails, who does that mean is ultimately responsible for spiritually-stunted growth?

Look in the mirror.

Bob
Fides Quaerens Intellectum
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Bob Pratico
Fides Quaerens Intellectum
(my Sojourn blog)