Last year on a hike in the foothills outside of Boulder, Colorado, my wife and I walked up on a couple our age searching for psychedelic mushrooms. Rather evasive, they feared sharing their secret hunting grounds. Old hippies getting high struck me as comical, but these two seemed a bit unhinged (years of partying on shrooms probably had something to do with that). While most of us learn to think in a more adult fashion as we move through life, maturity does not automatically appear.

The Apostle Paul pushed the congregation in Corinth toward maturity: But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way…

Maturity involves setting aside adolescence with its mistakes, misdeeds, and mushrooms, and imbibing instead on the ways of Jesus. Always a struggle, we progress beyond childish ways through hard work and hard knocks. With the Scriptures as our blueprint and the Holy Spirit as our guide, we possess the tools for growth. Now is the day to stop chasing juvenile pursuits. Now is the day to reach for the prize found only in Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:13-15

Photo by Arman Parnak