Thriving on Neglect?

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Luke 2:52

I have mentioned before that I do not have a green thumb.

I just came indoors from the 92 degrees (F) heat where I was pruning back a forsythia bush in my yard.

It was starting to look like Don Kings hair and needed to be attended to.

 Of all the flowers, shrubs and trees on our property the ones that do seem to thrive on neglect are the forsythia.

 All I need to do for them is trim them back when they get out of hand.

 I italicized the words ‘seem to thrive on neglect’ because of course , while it sure may seem that way it is not true.  Transplant them in a different soil, another climate zone or even in a spot with a different mix of sun and shade and not only will they not thrive, they may die.

Yesterday I spoke of growth and maturity in our walk with God.

 You can be confident of this; it too will not grow or thrive through neglect.

Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and favor because He did not neglect the Father or the purpose for which He came to the earth

Like Jesus, we too must be deliberate and purposeful in our attention to our relationship.

Please understand that it is more than a habitual, routine time to pray or ‘have a devotion’ While those things are not bad in themselves, they can build a religion but not necessarily a relationship.

Relationship is built through time spent together in a trusting and intimate way.

We have talked about it in great detail in recent weeks and it is called:

 ‘abiding in the vine’ or ‘remaining in Christ’.

My growth in Him thrives, not on neglect, but on relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit and surrender to the pruning work of the Father in my life.

To top it all off, as much as you may desire your relationship to thrive,

 God desires it even more!