Grow Up

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle 

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 22:3-16 ~~~ Psalm 117 ~~~ Mark 16:15-18 ~~~

God needed Paul to come to work for him.

He needed Paul to 'grow up' spiritually as quickly as possible.

There was no time to waste.

Paul had all of the qualities Jesus needed to spread his message.

Paul was on a mission to find and capture the followers of the way.

Today we celebrate his swift conversion.

God arranged for Paul to acquire spiritual maturity in record time.

A normal person would gradually become a mature person.

..a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

Every aspect of maturity progresses along a timeline of sorts.

As a person normally grows we mature physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

In some cases we have those who do not physically.

We have some who emotionally get stuck as a child.

They have difficulty relating socially.

Some people never become spiritually mature because 

they do not realize any different.

Paul models for us spiritual maturity.

He could have resisted his encounter with God.

He might have been able to reject the blinding light.

He could have become angry at his situation...

that is angry at God.

But what we see instead is Paul's compliance.

Paul receives and complies with God's invitation 

to 'grow up' spiritually.

Spiritual maturity is less about acquired knowledge and

more about what you do with what you know. 

It is possible to attend Bible studies and not grow up spiritually.

Spiritual maturity is not just about being a rule follower.

Consider those in the Scriptures who knew all the rules,

but were still spiritually immature.

Maturity is not just about growing old 

with a head full of gray hairs.

Spiritual maturity requires moral effort and discipline.
Normally there would be no short cuts...
But in the case of Paul's conversion
 it happened in one fall from his horse.

Pray for the grace and blessings
 to continue your spiritual growth.
Maturity is an attitude of life...blessings
to 'grow up' in Christ.