The ripening self

May the God of all grace, . .. after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. — 1 Peter 5:10

In his early years of ministry, the English preacher Charles Simeon (1759-1836) was a harsh and self-assertive man. One day he was visiting a friend and fellow pastor in a nearby village. When he left to go home, his friend’s daughters complained to their father about Simeon’s manner. So he took the girls to the backyard and said, “Pick me one of those peaches.” It was early summer, and the peaches were green. The girls asked why he wanted green, unripe fruit. He replied, “Well, my dears, it is green now, and we must wait; but a little more sun, and a few more showers, and the peach will be ripe and sweet. So it is with Mr. Simeon.”

Simeon, in due time, did change. The warmth of God’s love and the “showers” of misunderstanding and disappointment were the means by which he became a gentle, humble man.

The God of all grace works in all His children, humbling the proud and exalting the humble, to make them ripe and sweet. Our task is to take hold of God’s grace to endure our afflictions with patience, without growing weary.

In time, He will “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle” us (1 Peter 5:10) We must “wait on the Lord” and “be of good courage” (Ps. 17:14). — David Roper

Our fruitfulness and growth in Christ

Won’t happen instantly,

But meditating on God’s Word

Will bring maturity. — Sper

READ: 1 Peter 5:8-11

Salvation is the miracle of a moment; growth is the labor of a lifetime.

The Bible in one year:

• Psalms 122-124