I’m back in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) after being out for over 20 years. It is where I learned to apply Scripture to my life. It feels good to be held accountable to read Scripture every day, answer written questions about what you have read, listen to and share with those who have done the same and then have what you have been learning summarized by a lecture and notes. Quite comprehensive!

It is a good time to return because a brand new study is being offered, the Book of Revelation. In the first three weeks I have learned new things about myself, God, the way He works and the plans that He has for the inhabitants on earth. All this is bringing me such joy and, occasionally, laughter that I can’t help but share with you.

Two comments from the first lecture stuck with me. Reading from the Bible is the most important reading that you can do each day and God is pleased when you are growing spiritually.

I had finished doing my lesson two days before the next meeting; so I thought that I would do recreational reading. My choice is usually a mystery book; but before I was able to find time to fire up my Kindle, the first comment kept running through my mind. I finally gave in and decided to listen to a recorded sermon from my grand daughter’s church in Santa Barbara, California.

Guess what the topic was? Growing spiritually in your local church. God had directed me, through a BSF lecture, to what would please Him as my focus for the nine-month study. It wasn’t just the coincidence of the lecture comment being the same as the sermon topic. It was also that the three steps given for spiritual growth pointed to a weakness in my spiritual maturity that I probably would not have worked on unless given this prod from God.

The sermon was from I Peter 2:1-10 and the steps are as follows:

1. Drink milk (2:2) It takes discipline to read the Bible daily and there is the temptation to water it down, not recognizing that God is the final authority, not self.
2. Move into a new house (2:4-8) The new house is the local church. In it you will find fellowship, discipline, accountability, joys, frustrations, quirkiness, people who are multi-aged and from multi-backgrounds.
3. Act like a priest (2:5-9) You have direct access to God for serving others in the local church. Mature believers grasp their new identity. (2:9-10).

The problem I have is with step 2. I’m an introvert and socializing is not my thing. Plus, I have been in two churches that have split and when I saw a controversy coming in my present church in which I would be in the middle, I backed off and dropped out of most areas where I would have to relate to anyone but family and close friends. The preacher created the right picture of moving into a house. I would never leave my actual family home, even though it also is made up of people who are quirky and are multi-aged and from multi-backgrounds and who sometimes frustrate me. Staying and working out the problems God’s way, both in the local church and in my home, results in spiritual growth. And yes, it some times takes years.

I’ve got my work cut out for me. I have to change how I relate to the people in my local church.

I can’t imagine coming face to face with Jesus (and we will, as Revelation tells us) without having grown in this spiritual area.