[Steve Myers] Good afternoon, everyone. What a beautiful song. We really appreciate the choir and all the efforts that Mrs. Roland has put into helping us bring some special music. What a praise and honor it is to God. May His Kingdom Come, what a blessing it is that He's opened our minds to His truth to understand His purpose and His plan and His way.

In fact, that's part of what today is all about. Yes, we're going to be celebrating a pre-Thanksgiving kind of an atmosphere in the day but we're also remembering the Feast. It hasn't been that long since the Feast of Tabernacles that really focused on all of those things that the choir was singing about, the ultimate plan of God, coming together, worshiping Him, honoring Him, and understanding what His purpose and His plan are all about.

So I guess the question is are you still fired up about the Feast? Is it still impacting your life? I hope the answer is yes. I hope the answer is yes. I know we traveled to all areas of the world as we worshiped and honored God where He placed His name. And so where was it that you had an opportunity to go? I know many of us have talked about some of the experiences that we had, the sermons that we heard, and how they were inspiring and how they impacted our lives. We're going to have some opportunities to do even a little bit more of that this afternoon.

We had the wonderful opportunity to be in South Africa for the Feast. Now, what we learned when we got there—we'd never been there before—we found out that they have kind of two main industries. It's tourism and wild beasts. And we found out that they skin them both. So I'm not sure where you were. If you've ever been in a foreign country where they drive on, well, they say it's the right side of the road but it's actually the left side and it feels like the wrong side of the road. If you've ever had to do that, is that a problem or not? It seemed to be a little bit of a problem.

In our vehicle I think the most common word that was said was, "Left! Left! Left!" So it's just an oddity. One time I think we we accidentally turned the wrong way on a one-way street. Then a policeman stopped us and said, "Where do you think you're going?" Well, I told him, "Wherever it was, we must be late because everybody else is already coming back." That didn't really happen, but it's the only way I can squeeze that joke in.

But it is a crazy experience to try to drive on the wrong side of the road, especially when their vehicles, at least the ones they tend to rent, are stick shifts and you might not think . . . well, maybe you've never driven a stick shift so that's a challenge of itself but then put it on the other side of your body and try to shift with your left hand and then of course everything else is backwards or on the opposite side. We'd say backwards. And so any time we're going to make a turn, the windshield wipers came on. So it is an interesting experience.

So we were not only had physical experiences, but we certainly had the blessings that come spiritually from the Feast of Tabernacles. And so what amazing blessings it is, and I think it's a challenge for all of us. We come back from the Feast. Okay, here we're really about a month since the Feast has passed and we certainly hope that the inspiration from the Feast hasn't passed as the days have passed.

What can we do to keep that inspiration? Is there anything that we can do to continue the motivation and recognize that we should take those things that we heard and make them that much more applicable in our life, because that is the challenge, isn't it? We know spirituality is not just a yearly thing that happens on the Holy Days; it's not that. We know that it has to be an ongoing kind of a thing and as we think about that, yes, some of us grew during the Feast but then we got back and started exercising and we lost a few pounds and things got back to where they were before.

It's easy to grow physically, in fact you don't even have to try. Healthy individuals, once they're born, automatically begin to grow from childhood to adulthood. But it's also a reminder it doesn't necessarily happen that way spiritually speaking.

Being healthy spiritually is a process of growth, and it doesn't happen automatically. It happens when we choose it to happen, when we intentionally make that choice. And if we don't make those spiritual choices in our life and if we don't stick to it, what happens? There won't be growth, we won't spiritually grow.

And so this afternoon let's think about that a little bit further. How can we choose to grow? Or is it even necessary to make that choice? Of course we sit here today and as we consider our calling, we're here because God worked with us and He's drawn us here. And of course He's our great teacher and we will read through the Bible and we recognize that Christ specifically worked with several individuals very closely. And they had a name, that group of men specifically that he worked with, and women as well.

What were they called? Okay, they were called "crazy" at times, they were called "fools" at times, but in the spiritual sense they were called "disciples", weren't they? They were the disciples of Christ. What are disciples? Well, that's what we claim to be, we claim to be disciples, we claim to be literally what the word means is a learner, and one who learns is a student. Students go to school or go to home-school and they learn things. That's what students do, they learn from their teachers, from instruction.

And so even if you looked up that word in a word dictionary it would tell you, "A disciple is one who follows another's teaching." But for us it's more than that. A disciple, a biblical disciple, a spiritual disciple is not only a learner or a student, but they're also an adherent. They're someone who sticks and follows and does those words of the teacher.

And so when you put that all together what is that connected to? I think it connects us to this whole concept of growth and commitment. And so a disciple is not only a learner, they have to be a true adherent. They have to be truly one who is an imitator of their teacher and I think we understand that, we know that.

There's a passage that Christ instructed us regarding this very fact. It's over in Luke, chapter 6, verse 40. Let's begin there by turning over to Luke, chapter 6, verse 40, as Christ addresses this issue and let's see how it connects to this concept of choosing and making an intentional choice to grow. We know if we haven't intentionally made a decision to pick up our notes after the Feast, or maybe we can step back just a little farther. If we didn't make it a choice to take notes at the Feast, how much more difficult is it going to be to adhere to what we learned, to what we heard? Now I've got to totally rely on my own memory, which may be a little bit of a challenge.

And so when you consider that, we have to consciously decide to be that adherent. Christ talked about that, Luke 6:40, "A disciple is not above his teacher." Christ is the Master, He is our Lord, He is our High Priest. We, as disciples, can't be better than Christ. But then He goes on and He says, "But everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." And I think that begins to give us some insight into this concept of making a conscious effort to be Christ-like.

Now, if you were to read this verse in the New English Translation, if you look at verse 40 again. It says, "A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher," and that's us. We're in this training process and we've got to continue to recognize, "I need more training. I need more training to be like my Teacher, like my Lord, like my Master." ESV translation puts it a little bit differently and adds a little bit more meat to this concept. Back to verse 40 again. "A student," not just a disciple but adds a little bit of meaning there, "A student disciple is not better than the teacher, but the student," all of us, "who have been fully trained will be like the teacher."

And so if we claim to be Christian, which a disciple of Christ is, then we've got to make it our goal to strive to be like Him. And so we step back, a month from the Feast, so we can ask ourselves, "How strong is my desire to follow Him? How strong and intent is my mind to continue to imitate Him and to be not just a little bit trained, not just somewhat trained, but as Christ said, to be fully trained, to be like Him?" You see, because true disciples, true students, true obedient learners are recognizing this fact that I have to be constantly growing as I'm learning and as I obey, because I think the opposite is true as well, isn't it?

If I'm not doing those things, unless I'm making that conscious, intentional choice, can I really say I'm a disciple? Can I really say I'm imitating Him? See, what Christ is getting at here is that spiritual growth is not just a nice idea. It’s not just, “Well, it's a nice option for Christians,” but He's not saying that. He's pointing to the fact that spiritual growth is a command. Choosing to grow, making that conscious effort is really a command.

And if we were to turn to all the passages in the Bible that point to that, I think it might even take us back a little bit to recognize the fact that He's saying this is a must, this is an absolute connection between those who claim to be Christ's disciples and making that choice to grow. It's a command.

We know one of the familiar passages, look over at 2 Peter, chapter 3, verse 18, we could probably say it from memory. You know what it says? You do whether maybe you know it off the top your head by a scripture and verse, but it says, "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". We know that passage, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

And so as we consider that, we understand it's not an option, that it's more than that. It's more than a nice idea, it's a requirement. In fact, if you happen to turn over to 2 Peter, you could go to 2 Peter 1, go to chapter 1, and he adds to this concept even before you even got there. He says a couple of interesting things in 2 Peter 1:5. Notice the connection where he builds to, before he says, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Here's what he said previous to that. 2 Peter 1:5, he says, "Also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love."

Of course we can read through that really quickly. Those are all big, big concepts. They're big character traits, they're what we're striving to do because he didn't say, for this very reason, having faith is good enough. Just believing doesn't cut it. That's a starting point, that's a starting point but we've got to add, add to that faith these character attributes. This has to be who we are and in the areas that we don't measure up, that's where we've got to make a conscious effort to choose to grow.

In fact, he says in verse 8, like Christ said, to be fully trained, he says, "if these things are yours and abound, you'll be neither barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." So we say, "Grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ." Here's how we do it. He says we don't want to be found empty when it comes to these character issues. He says, "He who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble."

And so that helps us to see very clearly how critical this is. First and foremost, growth is a command. Spiritual growth is a command, and we've got to start with that very thing and we've got to be absolutely convinced it's more than just an option. God's Word consistently commands us to grow. We must choose to grow, and so that spiritual option is not up for grabs. Otherwise, he says, we're going to be found wanting, we're going to be found wanting if we don't make that choice.

And in fact here in 2 Peter he also points out a second critical factor that's involved in choosing to grow. Did you catch it as we read through this little section here? Spiritual growth is not automatic. Just because we went to the Feast of Tabernacles doesn't mean we've grown at all. Just because we recognize the Sabbath doesn't mean we're automatically going to grow. That's a second important aspect is growth is not automatic. Growth is a command but spiritual growth doesn't happen automatically.

What did Peter say here? “Well, it'd be a nice idea if you are diligent,” or “Maybe you ought to think about putting some effort into this.” You see, he tells us more than once. First he says, verse 5, "give all diligence," give all diligence, and then in verse 10 he says, "Even be more diligent to make that call and election sure." And so when you think about, physically speaking, how much effort is required for physical growth, it happens by default, I mean, unless there's some kind of disorder or something, kids grow up. We grow up, we physically mature.

But we want to be careful if we make that connection spiritually speaking, right? I mean, little kids are amazing in the way they grow up and they grow up so quickly. We had an opportunity yesterday to have a little one in our house and the fun and the laughter and the joy, and it is an amazing thing to watch those little ones. But it is a reminder you've got to grow up, and when you think about the little ones growing up like us, do we want them to be like our example, as who we are? Well, we do. We'd like him to get rid of the bad things or bad traits. We want them to be better. We want them to be closer like Christ, don't we?

And sometimes as parents we love to have our children emulate us. I heard an interesting story about a lady who was a physician. She was taking her little one to preschool, little four-year-old she was taking to preschool and the doctor had left her stethoscope on the seat next to her and the little one grabbed it out of her car seat and started playing with that. The doctor said, "Oh, wonderful my daughter wants to grow up and be like me and follow in my footsteps." What greater joy can there be than that? And then the little one grabbed the end of the stethoscope and she said, "Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order?"

See, we've got to watch out, don't we? What is the example that we set for a kid? That doesn't take much effort to be like that, does it? And it's not the fact that just that we're older that we're growing spiritually. Just because we've been around for years or decades, does that connect directly to spiritual growth? See, the lesson is growing old doesn't mean growing up. We know that in life growing up doesn't necessarily mean growing mature, right?

And so no wonder Peter says, "Give all diligence," do your best. Some of the translations even say that, "Do your best, make every effort." You must work hard, you must work hard, try your hardest, employ all care. The one translation I like says, "Do your utmost." So even doing your best may not be your utmost. You see, that's what Peter was getting at—and Peter was identifying with the teachings of Christ—he was a disciple, he was a learner, he was a student of the Master, and the Master said we have to work at it. This is not something that God just bestows upon us automatically.

And I think we recognize this. When we understand it doesn't come automatically, Christ taught that very thing. Look over at John, chapter 6, verse 22. John, chapter 6, verse 22, Christ mirrors the words of Peter as He was instructing His learners, He's instructing His disciples. Notice the scenario in John, chapter 6, this is the example of the feeding of the 5,000. All these people showed up and what did they get? They got a free lunch. "Hey, what a deal, this was great, we got a free lunch."

So what happens after this? Kind of an interesting scenario. Verse 22 it says, “On the following day the people were standing on the other side of the sea saw there was no boat except the one which His disciples had entered, that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples but His disciples had gone away alone. However, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks." So after the feeding the 5,000. So that's where we are. “When the people therefore saw that Jesus wasn't there or His disciples,” they thought about that free meal. It would be nice to eat again. Maybe there is a free lunch after all. So what did they do? “They also got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.” What were they seeking? Were they seeking to be a disciple, or seeking to eat a meal? Well, they wanted to follow Him but did just following equate any spiritual connection at all?

Well, here's what happens. Verse 25, “When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’" Christ gets to the heart of the matter. He answers, "Most assuredly I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs," not because you saw the miraculous nature of what happened when these bread and these fish were miraculously feeding thousands and thousands and thousands of people, you're not seeking the power behind that. He says very clearly you're looking because you ate, you're looking to fill your stomach again. That's what you're all about.

What's the lesson? Well, verse 27, He says, "Do not labor for the food which perishes," like the bread and the fishes, "but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." And so Christ makes it very clear, if you just follow after Me, everything will be peachy keen, wonderful, unicorns and rainbows. Okay, no He doesn't, right? He makes it very clear. He says work, it's going to take effort. You're going to have to labor. This is not something that happens automatically.

And if you look at this word up in like a Thayer's Lexicon word dictionary, it connects with commitment and it connects with exercise and it connects with producing something, that there has to be a concerted effort to work and work for that spiritual result, that spiritual result that Peter had talked about, those spiritual character traits that are emulating our true teacher and that's what He pointed to. And it wasn't just Christ alone, it wasn't just Peter, but over and over again the apostle Paul says the same thing.

We probably remember that famous passage where Paul talked about working out, not just physically, but he said, "work out your own salvation." You work out your own salvation with fear and trembling and that's not saying we have to do it all but he said we better be laboring, we better be following the teacher, we'd better make every effort, we better employ all care, we better do our utmost. We better take the lessons we heard about at the Feast of Tabernacles and begin to apply them in our life and live them and do our very best as we strive and make every effort to work out our own salvation.

Paul talked about reaching and straining forward. This was going to take some effort, it was going to take some spiritual sweating and strengthening in order to do that. As he said, he pressed toward that goal. He saw the Kingdom as this amazing prize that was the finish, the utmost of our calling. In fact, he told Timothy something pretty amazing. In 1 Timothy, chapter 4:7, we will look over there. 1 Timothy 4:7, he reminds us of the critical nature of this very thing.

Notice how the apostle Paul instructs this young minister, Timothy, when it comes to this concept of being sure we don't expect growth to come automatically, to be sure that we're working and striving and putting diligent effort into our spiritual growth. That's what it's going to take and so he tells Timothy, verse 7 of chapter 4. 1 Timothy 4:7, he says, "Reject profane and old wives' fables." In other words, don't believe everything you see on Facebook, don't fall into that trap. Instead he says, "Exercise yourself toward godliness." And he makes this connection: "Bodily exercise profits a little."

Getting in shape isn't a bad thing, but more importantly, "godliness is profitable for all things." That's what really counts. Having promise of the life that now is, there are blessings for godliness right now and, he says, "of that which is to come." He says, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance."

When we really and truly recognize how important this principle is, to exercise spiritually, this is a faithful saying. This is something we should never discount, something we should never take for . . . but it's so simple, it sounds so easy. That's sometimes I think why we take it for granted at times. He says don't take that for granted. He says that's why, he says because of that which is to come, that's why we're laboring, that's why we suffer reproach, that's why he says we trust in the living God.

In fact, he says, "who is the Savior of all men, and especially those who believe." Verse 11, "These things command and teach." You see, who did Paul learn from? He was a disciple of Christ. He adhered to the lessons, the teachings, the example of Jesus Christ. He said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." He told Timothy exactly the same thing. These are the things that Christ taught, these are the things I'm passing on to you. He says, "Exercise yourself to godliness." That means you've got put some effort into it, you've got to work at it. It's not going to happen automatically.

And that word for exercising points specifically, especially to a good Greek, you know if you were in Greece you'd recognize this word very quickly because it meant a place that you would work out. It was a place where you did athletics. In fact, it was more than just a place. It was a school where you learned how to wrestle, where you learned how to apply these techniques. So Paul uses this word that we should exercise not just in a physical wrestling school. That's not what it's about.

The Palestra was not physically what we were after but we were after a spiritual Palestra, a spiritual gymnasium. That's how we've got to work out, and that means exercising not like some people I've seen at Planet Fitness. You know, they walk over to one thing and they lift it once and then they kind of straighten up, they get their ear buds all set, they listen to more. They walk around, they talk, they come over and do another thing and then they go on and they do more socializing than exercising.

That's not what he's talking about. He's saying put effort into it, He's talking about being vigorously exercising for spiritual growth because it's not going to happen otherwise. It's not going to happen. Just hoping it, not just wishing it or not just saying, "Oh yeah, I'm growing, I worked out today." Really? You wonder.

And so just saying it doesn't count. I was reminded of this in the example of a fellow who was in the mafia, mobster. His brother dies, he was also a bigwig in the mafia. He didn't know what to do because he's a criminal, he's awful. So the brother takes his brother's body, his fellow mobster brother, to the funeral home. He doesn't know what to do, so he finds the minister. He goes to him and he says, "Listen, everybody's going to be here that I know. I need you to tell everyone that my brother was a saint." Of course the minister's a little taken back by that. He said, "Listen, here's what I'll do. I'll make you a deal you can't refuse. I will give you a half a million dollars if during the funeral you say my brother was a saint."

I thought about it, okay, maybe not the most ethical minister of the world but he said, "I could probably use the half a million dollars." So he's trying to figure out how in the world he could do this and get away with it. So he starts the funeral ceremony. He says, "We all know this man was a cheat. We all know this man defrauded the government." This didn't sound like it was going so well. "We know this man hurt the innocent. We know this man stole hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. But compared to his brother, he was a saint." [audience laughs]

Okay, hopefully we recognize just saying don't make it so. Just saying, "I kept the Feast, I keep the Sabbath," that doesn't make you a Christian. That doesn't make us a disciple. That doesn't make us a true adherent in the teachings of Christ. So we can't just say, "Yeah we're saints."

Our ultimate goal is to be like Christ. That's the goal and we know we're to be conformed to His image, we're to be transformed from the ways of this world. In fact, Colossians points us in that very direction in chapter 3, verse 9. Let's take a look at Colossians 3:9 as we consider the fact that growth has to be a choice, that we must choose to grow and that it is a command. We're commanded and taught these very things because we recognize it's not an automatic, that it is going to take diligent effort.

And Paul wrote to the church of Colossae, chapter 3 verse 9. He says, "Don't lie to one another," which kind of makes you think that, well, what are the Colossians doing? They were probably lying to each other, right? He says, "Don't lie to each other," and it's interesting where he goes with this. He doesn't really address the lying, per se, but he goes to the heart of the matter. You can't be a liar because, "you put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him." So that's what we should be about if we're claiming to be Christians.

He says, "we put off that old man," and that's not just something we say. He gets down to the fact it's like putting on and taking off our clothes. And when he says, "you put off this old man," that old man is tough to get rid of and it's like those clothes that fit too tight. Are they just easily thrown off? But if you've got a shirt that's really tight it's hard to get out of, especially those long sleeved ones that just kind of stick to you. It's like, oh, you get up over your head and then you're totally stuck and now you can't see and you're trying to get it off and I've got to call my wife to help me with it.

That's kind of what he's getting at here, though, when he's saying "put off the old man," it's like clothing. We've got to strip it off, we've got to tear it off of our bodies because it can get too comfortable. Our own clothing can get too comfortable and he says get rid of it and put on what's right and good. Kind of a connection to even the priesthood of the ancient days. Put on those holy garments, those garments that Revelation talks about, those white robes of righteousness. That's what we've got to strive for. That's the kind of person that's changed, has a renewed perspective, have a change of heart, that's what he's pointing to.

And so it doesn't matter who we are, and where we came from. He says, we can do these things. So he says there's no Jews or Greeks or circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarians, Scythians, slave. But Christ is the one. Christ is the one we emulate, He's the one we follow, He's the one we imitate. We're stripping off everything that belongs to us and me and my carnal outlook, and I'm putting on Christ. I'm dressing myself in Christ.

And so he gets down to this very fact that spiritual growth looks like Christ. Spiritual growth looks like Christ, choosing to be Christ-like, following Him, imitating Him, being changed to His image. That's what conversion is. We're converted to His example, His way, His thinking. And I'm sure after going through these two critical points that growth is a command and it doesn't happen automatically, and we all know that, that's not new. We've heard these things before we. We know that.

One thing I think is true is that we've always been pretty good with theory, haven't we? We've always been good at theory. How does that translate into practice? How does that translate to practice? We're good at concepts. The disconnect comes in the application, doesn't it? These aren't shocking amazing things that we probably never heard of before. But how can we really take these things to heart? And how can we continue to be inspired after the wonderful things we heard at the Feast of Tabernacles? How can we make these things a reality and become more a part of who we really are?

I've got a very shocking, probably new revelation for all of us. How can we do it? Read the Book. Do we really delve into the Holy Word of God? See, that's a challenge for all of us. I was reminded of this when I was reading a little book about Mark Twain, the American philosopher Samuel Clemens. He recognized that not all those who claim to be churchgoers are really evident in their attitude and character. And so you know one thing that he said, he said, "The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible." Yeah, the best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible.

And we claim to be biblically-based, don't we? But here's what we've really got to be honest with ourselves. If we're truly going to be followers, imitators and adherents of Jesus Christ, we know what Paul told Timothy. He said, "study to show yourself approved," that's 2 Timothy 2:15. And it ties into what we just read in Colossians because it could also be translated, "Be diligent to show yourself approved," be diligent. We've got to put effort into this, and it concludes by saying, "We can rightly divide the word of truth." So if we want to be approved, it doesn't mean just to be acceptable or just to be pleasing. If we study to show ourselves approved or we're diligent to show ourselves approved, it's recognizing the fact that sometimes we don't measure up. And in order to measure up we better go back to the Book to see if we're passing the test.

This word for approval connects with a test because when you take an assessment you learn, "Wow, I know this stuff, but these things over here, I've got to go back to the book, go back to the basics and learn these things so that I can do even better on the final.” That's what this takes that that aspect that we study and we're diligent to recognize whether we're the real deal or whether we're a counterfeit. That we're also tied in in the Greek world with that same sense. Are we the real deal or we're just kind of going along on for the ride?

You see what students do, what lifelong learners do, what real true disciples do is they read the Book so they can grow spiritually and we've got to choose to read. If we don't know it, how can we apply it? When we don't understand it, how can we put it into practice? And when we don't understand it, how can we truly apply it?

And so maybe we can rate ourselves. Here we are a month or so after the Feast, how adamant am I in my Bible reading? How much have I read the Word since the Feast? That should be a pretty good indication of where I'm at. Well, I've read the Bible before, I have read through it many times. Okay, does past performance always indicate present performance? Boy, we'd better be doing it. Peter talked about how ingrained this should be in us.

2 Peter, chapter 2, verse 2, another passage we're familiar with. I know you'll recognize it as we read it. 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 2. It's sometimes the challenge of the simple things that we can take for granted. Christ certainly doesn't want us to, Paul didn't want us to, Peter doesn't want us to either. Look at the way that he words this particular section and consider it in this whole concept of continuing to be intentional Bible readers. 2 Peter 2:2, it says, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby."

Now, we can read that really quickly and we really miss the gist of what Peter's getting at. "Okay, I should be like a baby and they've got have some milk." Is that how babies are? What are babies like, little babies, little infants you hold in your arms, little nursing babies? What are they like when they want to eat? "Waaaaahhh," You think they want to eat? You think there's anything anybody else is going to do that either get them nursing or sucking that bottle? They want to eat! They're demanding it!

That's what Peter's talking about here. Don't be like a nice, little, cuddly, little baby that's so soft and so sweet. No, he's not referring to that. He's saying, you better be screaming for that Word, for that milk of the truth of God's Word. If that baby doesn't scream, we're going to take it for granted and it's not going to get the nourishment that it needs. So it's saying to crave it like a baby does because that baby is going to scream until it gets it. Is that how we feel? "I don't have to read the Bible today, I'll read it tomorrow."

Is that what babies do? "I think I'll nurse tomorrow, I don't have to nurse." They'll wake you up at two in the morning because they're hungry. Is that our attitude? That's what Peter is talking about here, crying out for that nourishment that we must have or we will spiritually be deficient. That's the kind of attitude that we have to have. That's the kind of choice that God really wants us to make.

And so we've got to ask ourselves what is it that stops us from having that kind of craving, for having that kind of a desire? What is it that gets in the way for us really, truly crying out for that kind of nourishment? Because that's the kind of need that we have. And it's absolutely amazing how jumbled up life can get and how distracted, and how mismanaged our lives can become in just the shortest little bit amount of time. Doesn't it happen like that sometimes? Here I'm going on track and then is suddenly I'm over way over there and then I'm over here. It is amazing that after a spiritual feast how quickly we can become distracted.

I was reading a little inspirational book that was written by a minister. His name was John Ortberg, he's not in the Church of God but he had some interesting things to say, and he said this. He said, "For most of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith," not that we're going to leave or go anywhere, quit the faith or leave the church. He says, "It's that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied, that we'll settle for a mediocre version of faith," that we'll settle for a mediocre version. "We'll just skim through our lives instead of actually living this life."

Of course he's pointing to the spiritual aspect and I think for all of us, don't we have to step back and say, "Well, is there a part of me just wants to hurry through that part? Is there a part of me that does get distracted and get off track? What in my life haven't I been managing? How have I mismanaged my own life? Am I really crying out for the nourishment that I should be?" Because it's a fact, I'm guilty.

It is really cool when you do some amazing things, you know those thrilling things. We did some amazing, thrilling things that would be equated with being an adrenaline junkie at the Feast. My son at one point in time said, "We've got to quit risking our life." And sometimes life is like that, we turn into adrenaline junkies, we've got to keep it pumping, we've got to go to the extreme. A regular ol’ roller coaster isn't any good today. You've got to fly upside down and do corkscrews and do all kinds . . . because that's where it's at.

I was reminded of thrill seekers, you talk about distractions and adrenaline junkies, I saw a picture of a cartoon and these two mice were standing by a mouse trap. Here's this beautiful piece of cheese. And you know what the one mouse said to the other one? "You only live once." Yeah, exactly. Yeah, YOLO, you only live once.

Okay, what about those choices, have we trained our brains to constantly need to be entertained? You see, that's part of the distraction in our world today. We seem to have this constant need to reach for that button that lights up and it lights up our brain, it lights up our senses, it will give us that next little thrill. It's going to deliver that dopamine so I can laugh at this movie or I can get that thrill from this experience and somehow that's going to deliver me from the challenges of real spiritual growth or the boredom of everyday life or the stress of everyday life.

And we turn that way and think somehow that's going to deliver us and we get off and we get distracted. “Oh yeah, I got my phone and I got my texting and I can watch movies or videos anytime I want. I could play my game and I could stick my ear buds in and I can listen and come into my own little world. And I love to watch those little videos of my pet armadillo. I can't wait to post at the Facebook, because how great will that be?”

I mean, it used to be that family and friends got together and they actually talked to each other. I was reminded of this the other day when we went to a restaurant and there was a family all sitting there eating together. I go, "Wow, families are eating together. What a wonderful thing." Every one of them had a phone, looking at their phone, nobody was talking to each other. Is that the way it's supposed to be? Have we become a people like that, that we're hurrying and we're distracted and we have constant interruptions in making the choice to do what's most important?

And we can just ask ourselves, do we spend as much time in the Bible as we spend on our phone, as we spend on Facebook? As we spend—watch it seniors—as we spend watching Jeopardy or we spend doing something else? How does that compare if we really consider that? Paul said to the Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 35, in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 35, I truly believe this is what keeps us from reading the Book. And if it keeps us from reading the Book, it keeps us from growing spiritually. And there's an undeniable connection in this way, and Satan has won this world with the distractions that he's thrown out here. And so he's muddied the water even in the preaching of the gospel so much that it's so difficult to get through and it shouldn't be that way for us.

1 Corinthians 7:35, he says, "I say this for your own profit," here's something that we should really take to heart because this is truly profitable to us. He says, "not that I've tried to put a leash on you," so if I say get off Facebook for your spiritual life, it's not because I hate Facebook. If I'm saying your spiritual life is in jeopardy because all you do is watch Netflix, so I'm not saying that to put you on a leash. That's what Paul is saying here. He says this is what's proper. He says, "that you may serve the Lord without distraction."

That's what it's about. That means without any reservation that God's got our undivided attention. Squirrel! Does He have our attention? Do we serve the Lord without distraction? Also takes on the meaning of above all else because those constant interruptions, those constant distractions mean I don't have to look at myself that carefully because I can look at all this other stuff that's going on. I don't have to look that closely at my heart and at my mind. And so these things, if we're not careful, they can keep us from seeing ourselves clearly.

I read some disturbing statistics about this very thing, just about the fact of people just don't read anymore, we just don't read. And it's an amazing thing because what are we trying to do in our effort to preach the gospel? Well, we produce a program, but where is the program supposed to lead people? And we produce a magazine, is it just about reading the magazine? No, we want them to read the Book. What are the booklets about? We want them to read the Book.

But when you consider it, do you know what percentage of adults in America cannot read an 8th grade book? This phenomenal. Half. Half of Americans cannot read an 8th grade level book. That's just amazing to think about. And what percentage of grads high school graduates will never read a book after high school? More than a third. More than a third of high school graduates will never read a book.

One statistic took me back a little bit, what percentage of adults have not been even near a bookstore, online or physical in the past five years? Okay, let's give them a little more time. Maybe this year was a rough year. How many adults have not then in a bookstore or on an online bookstore in the past five years? Seventy percent, 70%. You go to statisticbrain.com and it'll give you all kinds of statistics on these things.

We can't be like that. That's more normal than not. But we've got to be people of the Book. That means you've got to know the Book and understand the Book and most importantly apply the Book. Psalm 19 reminds us of that very fact. Psalm 19, verse 7, this is an amazing Book because it's just not any old book, these are the words of God and Psalm 19 points to that very fact and how critical this is to our spiritual growth. Psalm 19:7 it says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." This testimony, this Word that we have before us, that's what it does because when we read it, we have the opportunity to live by it.

It says, "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold."

Would we take the half a million dollars to say he was a saint? Do we take that for granted? Or are we distracted? You see he says, they're more desired, this Word, reading the Book is more desired than gold. He says, "Yeah, even more than fine gold, sweeter than honey and honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward." And so he certainly points to the fact that we must feed on this Word not once in awhile, daily, every day, like that baby that can't stop unless it eats. That's got to be our perspective.

And if I'm to grow, if I'm to love this Word, if I'm to love God, If I'm to love the brethren, if I'm to love the world, I have to make that conscious choice every single day. And when I do, I think that ties it all together because there is a spirituality that can be much easier attained when we read the Book and we can talk about it intellectually and we can talk about it emotionally and relationally. All of those things are tied together. And so when we make it our goal to have a regular, unhurried time in the Word of God and when we take that time to go through Scripture, let's make it our goal to do it more consistently, to be consistent in that in coming into the very presence of God, because that's what we do when we read His Word. We come into His presence and we commit ourselves to grow in connection to what He tells us in His holy Word.

And so by doing that, we reflect on ultimately the example that we are striving to be like, we reflect on the example of Jesus Christ and greater holiness and greater fulfillment in God the Father. And so those spiritual things can be met when we begin to do that. Even intellectually it's true as well. Intellectually we've got to commit to stick to a consistent reading plan. Yeah, that can be tough because life is distracting, but make it our goal. If we're going to keep the inspiration of the Feast, we've got to make our goal to have a consistent Bible reading plan.

How easy is it even with our phones today? Our phones today will download that Bible app and it'll remind you, "Read your Bible." Okay, I'm distracted, I've got to do this. It'll put it on your calendar for you. It will read it for you, it will read it for you. You see, more and more we're without excuse. So we've got to make it that daily plan. And imagine if we made it a goal to actually memorize a verse once in a while. They lock those passages into our brain and, you know, real students don't just know those things for the test, they remember them after the test because they are ingrained in their thinking. And so imagine doing that, locking that into our minds and our hearts, meditate on those things before we go to sleep, not just the latest TV series that now is on Netflix.

If we make it our goal to do that, what a blessing that will bring. What if we made it our goal to say, "I'm not going to have the only sermon I listen to on the Sabbath. I'm going to make it a goal to listen to one sermon a week." Is that too much? Would that be a realistic goal we all could have? Boy, there's thousands of them on the UCG website, thousands upon thousands of them. Maybe one, maybe one other time delve into the Word of God and listen to that inspired word being enunciated before us. How much of a blessing would that bring?

And of course in dealing these things we definitely can't leave our prayer, we can't take out relationships because relationally I think reading the Bible certainly helps us. How about reading with our spouse? Have we read the Bible together lately? Ever sat down lately? When is the last time we did that? May not have been very recently. Does that build our marriage? Does that build our relationship? Spending time together in the Word of God, reading that Word to our children, praying, listening, having fun, enjoying it? Can that make all the difference? I think it absolutely can and it just points to the importance of that very fact of the benefits of just reading that powerful Word of God.

As we think about these things, it is a challenge, it really is. It is such a challenge in the way the world is today and we definitely have to work at it. We've got to work on it today, we've got to work on it tomorrow and for the rest of our lives because that daily growth is something that's going to take place over the long haul. Over the long haul.

Maybe one final passage we could look at that also is an encouraging one. We referred to it but one I think we definitely want to take to heart. Philippians, chapter 2, verse 12, yeah, that's the one that says, "work out your own salvation," but let's notice something that we don't want to overlook but something that also is so critical in this whole calling that God has given us. Philippians 2:12, He starts the thought with, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." There is a responsibility that we have that is undeniable, absolutely we must grow spiritually, it won't happen automatically. Verse 13 is critical, though. "Work it out," but he says, "it's God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

It's God who works in us. He promises to lead us and guide us. And when we delve into His Word, we should be that much more likely to submit to His Spirit, to get ourselves out of the way and allow Him to lead, respond to His guidance, to do the things that we're reminded of. So as we consider this, what kind of growth is taking place in our lives? Are we growing in a way that is vibrant? Is joyful?

Really shining forth the impact of the teachings of Jesus Christ, that's what we can do. When we allow the motivation and inspiration of the Feast to move us, when we allow God's Spirit to guide and direct us, we recognize it is possible. Yes, it's commanded but it is doable. This is something we can do. We can more fully commit to reading the inspired Word of God and apply it more fully every day.

So let's do that. Let's be intentional. Let's deliberately and purposely direct our life in making the right choices today and every day. Let's choose to grow.