The plans of ethe diligent lead surely to abundance, 
  but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Proverbs 21:5 

Let me share a painful truth with you: There is no shortcut to spiritual maturity.

None.

I know I want it to be otherwise. But this is the plain truth.

As is so often the case in Proverbs, some axioms are repeated over and over, and in different ways. So with this one. And in this case, there is an added dimension.

In the natural, I was what was termed in my day “a late bloomer.” And this brought problems with it.

Although I was somewhat bright (simply “precocious” might be a better word – I’m sure I thought I was brighter than I was) I was also emotionally very immature, even for my age.

Because I was a bit snappy, I started school what was probably a year too early. My parents should have kept me back a year. Though I think I was enrolled early to save my Mother’s sanity at home. One more year of me in the house would have driven her up the wall!

But I was bored. I didn’t see the relevance of anything I was being taught. And my report cards regularly bore the comment: “Reid is not working up to his potential.”

Yeah. My grey matter was sufficient. But my emotional maturity was too far behind to make a good mix.

School wasn’t fun.

I always wanted to be – or at least treated – older than I actually was. Which led me to inserting myself into conversations and situations above my paygrade. It made me a Grade A pain in the neck to my friends and family. Not to mention my teachers.

Maybe you too can remember back to when you wanted to be older than you were? Wanting to be big enough to ride certain rides at the amusement park. Anxious to get that driver’s license. Being old enough to stay home alone without a baby-sitter. Wanting to make your own decisions, etc.

Well that same phenomena replicates itself in the life of the Believer too.

We come into the spiritual life when we are born again, and we look around at those who were saints before us, and we want their experiences, their insights, their impact on others, and their seeming grasp of God, the Word and spiritual matters.

The problem is, there is only one way to get “older.” Time.

But, as I said above, there are no spiritual shortcuts to growth. Only time and the natural process will avail – and only these are desirable. So it is with our souls.

In fact, spiritual growth spurts are not even something to be desired – to grow in sudden, huge leaps.

Time with God, time letting the soul in Christ mature and let every aspect fully develop in balance and harmony. Time to learn God’s Word so as to handle it responsibly. Time to analyze your own heart in the light of the Scripture by the illumination of The Spirit. Time to reflect on past decisions. To consider what makes for spiritual maturity. Time to learn how to begin to master oneself in the power of the Spirit. Time to walk with God consistently so as to know His ways and providence. To cultivate spiritual habits and disciplines that lend themselves to solid growth.

Time.

If you are running from ministry to ministry and seminar to seminar hoping to have some instant miraculous experience which catapults you into spiritual maturity – stop! There is no such thing. You must walk the entire path with Him, you cannot simply be conformed to His image in a moment.

By the age of 12, Jesus Himself, the very Son of God, was more than able to hold His own with the teachers and the rabbi’s in the Temple. But He still remain under His parent’s authority, and didn’t enter into any kind of “ministry” until around 30.

So as Luke 2:52 reminds us: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Yet how many new-Born Believers want instant ministry? And how many of us who have walked with the Lord, as still discouraged at our slow rate of growth?

One does not gain spiritual maturity by bestowal – it is by growth. One learns the Word by study, not osmosis. Faith grows in testing, not ease. Age, even in Christ comes by way of time, not sudden leaps forward. Diligence is what leads to abundance. Faithfulness is what perseveres long enough to reap the harvest. Yearning for Heaven makes a man order his steps to get there. Those who imagine they have it all now, or can get it all in a flash are fooling themselves. Such hastiness will only come to poverty.

Yes, it is true the writer to the Hebrews can chide some of his readers for not contributing to their own growth, and needing to get on the stick. At the same time, we are reminded of how patient Jesus was with His own disciples and their slow growth.

How much more with you and me?

Walk WITH Christ, do not try to cross the finish line while you are still in the starting gate.

In due time, you too will fully bear that image. You will “grow up into Him.” (Eph. 4:15)