by: Russell McLaughlin

Don't Get In A Pickle

            A minister was telling me about seeing a single huge pickle in a jar – only the pickle was so large and the mouth of the jar so small, that there was no way you could get that pickle out of the jar.  He wondered how they had stuffed it in there.  And then he realized that someone had slipped the jar over the cucumber while it was still on the vine, and the cucumber had outgrown the space and had been left in that jar, and in a joking way, someone had pickled the pickle there in the jar.

            That is unusual – and quite odd, but let’s notice something that is just as ridiculous.  Many people spiritually, still live in a little spiritual world that they should have outgrown long ago.  The Bible teaches us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, II Peter 3:18.  The Message of the New Testament is that we must grow to maturity and progress in our discipleship. Paul states in, 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;”. They were not maturing in Christ the way they should.

            Let’s pray for one another this week to grow spiritually and reach our full potential in Christ.  Let’s encourage each other to grow. May God bless us to become more mature in our prayer life, our Bible study, our worship, and in our service to God and to others. May we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.