Greetings and blessings brothers and sister of the first block church my dear SteemChurch let's talk a little about the growth taking as an example the Cedar of Lebanon, since it was God who said that we would grow like him.
"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, grow like a cedar in Lebanon" Ps 92:12
1- Slow but consistent growth.
We know about the Cedar of Lebanon that grows slowly, but reaches the height of up to 40 meters. In the first three years of life, the roots grow up to a meter and a half deep, while the plant has only about five centimeters. Only after the fourth year is that the tree begins to grow. The Christian is like the cedar of Lebanon, and therefore has the promise to grow. Although its growth is slow according to the experience of the cedar, it will happen and it will be visible to all. The concern of the son of God, mainly in the early years of the Christian life, should not be in the growth itself, but in the release of its roots. Remember the fact that in the first three years the cedar has roots one and a half meters deep while the plant has only five centimeters.
We understand, therefore, that the focus is on the release of the roots much more than on the external evidence. We notice many people worried because they do not realize that they are growing spiritually. They are probably waiting for visible fruits, established ministries, or some external evidence that they are growing in God. However, like the cedar, we should not be so focused on these external evidences, if we really occupy ourselves in deepening our roots. We do it through the reading of the Word, of the assimilation of His principles and of the proper application in practical life. The essence of the Word of God is LOVE. The more we exercise ourselves in the Love of God and our neighbor, the deeper our roots will be, and then, in due time, we will begin to manifest a gradual growth. "And so Christ dwells in your heart.
2. Roots looking for deep water
Another interesting truth is that Lebanon cedar is very resistant and supports wind and heat. Its deep roots seek water in the water table and that is why it does not depend on rain. This is how the Christian should be. To grow in the likeness of cedar can not live in dependence on external factors. It is necessary to learn to deepen their roots to look for food and provision even in unfavorable conditions of drought, heat and absence of rain. Some say that he stopped growing spiritually because of the lack of spirituality of his local church. Sometimes we complain about the family itself because it does not favor favorable conditions for success in any area of life.
On the most diverse occasions, if we neglect ourselves, we will always be finding a scapegoat for our failures. However, the biblical teaching shows us that despite the absence of rains or extremely unfavorable external factors, we must find the deepest waters. Those that are found when they are searched. They are not on the surface of indifference or laziness. They are not on the threshold of conformism or spiritual apathy. They are in the place of hunger and thirst for God. They are in the place of the desire to be someone for God and for the world. "Find me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
3. Roots hugging the rock
There is information that every root when it grows a lot and reaches the rock stops growing. In the case of Lebanon cedar the root continues to grow around the rock, hugging it. While some roots see in the rock an impediment to its expansion, towards the cedar, just the opposite. The more you embrace the firmer rock, the more you will remain. For many the encounter with the rock will stop their growth. I refer to those who live outside the Word of God. They grow and develop their personal projects until they collide in Christ and in His immutable principles. They can not prosper in the manner of God because their methods, formulas, motivations and actions are condemned by Him.
It is not so with the just one who continues to grow until his roots are signed on the rock, embracing it and establishing a relationship of greater intimacy. For you, therefore, those who believe, is preciousness; but for the unbelievers, the stone that the builders rejected, this became the main stone, angular and: Stone of stumbling and rock of offense. These are the ones who stumble at the word, being disobedient, for what they were also put. "(1 Peter 2: 7-8)