13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes Ephesians 4:13-14
I just returned from the beach. I enjoyed a long weekend with my family. It was wonderful to get out into the sun and enjoy. The best part was showing my granddaughter the ocean for the first time. Her excitement was contagious. She was very eager to get into the ocean and into the waves. So, after we got her in a little life jacket we took off. First the foamy waves washed over us, the sand pulled from under our feet and then we squealed at the cold. From there we waded deeper beyond the surf, bobbing on the waves. I held her tight, coaching her when to jump, hold her nose or turn away. She rode those waves like a champ.
I love jumping waves. The excitement of waiting for the big one that will raise you up and push you back. That exhilaration of “floating” back to the sand. As the day progressed, the waves and wind intensified. The waves began to come faster and taller. At times there was no time to break, wave after waves lifted or crashed over us. The wind blew and the waves came from different directions crashing into each other and then over us.
As I held her waiting for the next wave, a verse came to my mind. “so that we may not longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves”. I made a mental note and knew that I needed to look it up. At first, I thought it was James 1:6 that speaks to faith but as I looked for other verses that were similar, I found Ephesians and knew right away this was the verse.
If you have social media, watch the news, or simply talk to people, you know that we are being bombarded by false doctrines. Sinful ideologies. Desensitizing images, seductive advertising and encouraged to accept things that are not in line with God’s teaching or face consequences. Consequences like job loss, financial ruin, and commonly public humiliation by social media. If you hold to biblical teachings, you are called close minded, a bigot, and intolerant. No one wants to be labeled any of those things or have people believe you are filled with hate. And so, we ride the waves, tossed to and fro by the winds. Conflicted by our desire to uphold God’s word and to be liked by everyone we are at the mercy of the waves.
Paul reminded the Ephesians and us that we must be mature in our faith, to know and believe in Christ Jesus. To have unwavering faith and courage to stand up in Christ and uphold the biblical teaching. Without a strong relationship with Jesus, consistent pray life and Bible reading we are at the mercy of the waves. We are unable to recognize false doctrines and lies of the enemy.
These waves will not stop, they will not be calm because every day we are coming closer to the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible. The pressures from society, our friends and even family members will not cease. I encourage you to seek a relationship with Jesus. To spend time in prayer and in his Word. By doing so you will mature and be able to withstand the waves.
Typist for Jesus
Mustard Seeds, Modern Parables 