Room to Grow

Read: Hebrews 11:8-9

“Guess what?” Isla said when her mom got home from work. “Miss Collins is moving, and she doesn’t want to take her fish tank with her. She gave me her three Oscar fish.”

“Aren’t Oscars really big?” Mom asked.

“In an open lake they are, but if they grow up in a fish tank, they stay small. Miss Collins says they always grow in proportion to their surroundings.”

“That’s interesting.” Mom went over to Isla’s fish tank and peered at the newcomers. “Your fish might be an interesting topic for you to talk about on show-and-tell night at your youth group next week. In some ways, we’re like those fish.”

“We are?” Isla frowned. “Mom, about youth group…after this year, kids my age are supposed to move up to the older group, and we don’t want to. We just want to keep our same small group.”

“You’re worrying about that a little early, aren’t you? Your group will stay the same for quite a while yet.” Mom looked at Isla’s fish. “What if Miss Collins had set those Oscars free in the lake instead of giving them to you, Isla? What would happen?”

“I guess they would have grown much bigger,” Isla replied.

“Right,” said Mom. “Now, do you think God would want you kids to be like little fish in a tiny cramped tank, never growing very much? Or do you think He’d want you to stretch and grow spiritually as Christians?”

“I guess He’d want us to grow.” Isla thought of her older cousin Chris, who was a missionary overseas. “Chris probably had to grow a lot before he was ready to leave his family and tell people in another country about Jesus. I bet he never thought he’d be doing that when he was my age!”

Mom nodded. “He had to learn to depend on Jesus and follow wherever He led—even if it was somewhere he wasn’t totally comfortable at first.”

Isla sighed. “Okay, I’ll use my fish for an illustration on show-and-tell night. Maybe the other kids will agree that it will be good to move up so we can stretch out and grow.”

–Heather Tekavec

How about you? Do you have a place where you can go to grow spiritually? Do you have Christian friends who help you? Going to church, learning about the Bible with others, taking part in service projects that show people the love of Jesus—all these things help you grow as a Christian. It may be scary at first, but take advantage of new opportunities that help you learn more about Jesus and share His love with others.

Today's Key Verse: But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)

Today's Key Thought: Go where you’ll grow