I had lunch with a brother yesterday, and we were fellowshipping about growing in the Lord. He shared with me a life cycle from several verses in 1 John 1:
- experience the Lord- fellowship about the Lord with Brothers- the Lord illuminates our hearts with His light- He purifies us
This process repeats again and again. The question is, will we hang up on a certain stage? Do I read the Word and seek Him in order that I may experience Him? Do I fellowship with Brothers about Him and how I've experienced Him (or do I only talk about sports, politics, or economics)? Do I allow Him to illuminate the darkness of my depravity, or do I shirk from His light and try to hide in the darkness? Do I allow Him to purify me by trusting Him and obeying His Word of Truth?
In thinking about this life cycle, I was drawn to an analogy with my academic pursuits. Let us suppose that you have a rectangular prism vessel containing a solution of certain chemicals, and desired chemical reactions occur at an electrode surface installed at two of the opposing faces of this prism (electrodes driven by electricity).
- [(rxn) <--- (chemicals) ---> (rxn)] +
Here are two major phenomena that could limit the rate at which the chemical reactions will progress at the (i.e., how fast the chemical reactions will occur at each electrode): 1) reaction-kinetics and 2) mass-transport. If the reaction speed is very slow, then it doesn't really matter how fast you provide chemicals to the electrode surface, the reaction speed is only going to process a certain amount of chemicals. Alternatively, if the reaction speed is very fast, then the rate at which chemicals are reacted might be restricted by the rate at which chemicals diffuse from the "bulk" region (in the middle) towards the electrode surfaces ( i.e., a slow supply of chemicals to the reaction surface).
So, here's the analogy - the Holy Spirit is the external source of power (electricity) , and the overall rate of processing chemicals corresponds to my rate of sanctification such that
mass-transport : reaction-kinetics :: reading the Bible : meditating/digesting/obeying
If I don't read very much Bible, then I'm not going to grow very fast because I'm not getting enough "chemicals to the reaction site." ( 1 Cor 3:1-3) However, if I don't meditate/digest/obey the Scripture that I do read, then it doesn't really matter how much I read or know ( e.g., Pharisees).
Thus, the challenge is to read enough Scripture each day to grow, but also invest the effort to meditate/digest/obey. In this way, I will help maximize the rate at which the Holy Spirit molds me into the image of Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that is my standard for living, your very breath. Lord, I pray that you will help me understand and obey your Scriptures so that I may glorify your name and walk in humble oneness with your Spirit. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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