Remember the commercial that ran several years ago that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane crashed and left him stranded on a desert island for years?
In the commercial, a man, who resembles the bedraggled Hanks. is also a FedEx employee who is rescued and takes a package to a suburban home.
When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, “Thank you.”
But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, “If I may ask, what was in that package after all?”
She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, “Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds.”
Of course, the irony is obvious. In a similar way, we have the resources we need for personal growth, deeper devotion, and greater spirituality. The apostle Peter expressed it in these words:
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” 2 Pet. 1:3).
If we believe the Bible, God has given us all we need spiritually and religiously. We’ve been given “all things that pertain to life and godliness.” The little word “all” says a lot. There is nothing else. There is no future revelation. No direct operation of the Holy Spirit apart from the counsels of His Word. And no “signs” that lead us in another direction away from the apostles’ doctrine.
Further affirming this truth is Paul’s affirmation in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Note these 5 provisions in Scripture.
- The Scripture shows you what is right.
- The Scripture shows you what is wrong.
- The Scripture helps you get right.
- The Scripture helps you stay right.
- The Scripture equips you for every righteous work.
But what does the Scripture tell us? In addition to the scripture itself, what resources are at our disposal? What’s in the package?
Be advised that the scriptural focus of our growth, development and improvement as a disciple, is not physical or material, it is spiritual. Hence the Bible speaks of…
- Spiritual things. 1 Cor. 2:13
- Spiritual people. 1 Cor 3:1
- Spiritual seed. 1 Cor. 9:11
- Spiritual sustenance. 1 Cor. 10:3
- Spiritual gifts. Rom 1:11
- Spiritual blessings. Eph. 1:4
- Spiritual songs. Eph. 5:10
- Spiritual body. 1 Cor 15:44
Spiritual warfare. Eph. 6:12 - Spiritual understanding. Col. 1:9
- Spiritual House. Pet. 2:9
- Spiritual sacrifice. 1 Pet. 2:5
- Spiritual Rock. 1 Cor 10:4
Our resources to grow are the spiritual blessings of prayer, fellowship, worship, and the people God has put in our lives to encourage, edify and enlarge our understanding, insight, and commitment to “the things of God,” as Jesus put it to Peter.
Furthermore, we grow more spiritually minded as we exercise our spiritual gifts, engage in the spiritual fight of faith, and feed on the many spiritual resources available today. With so much access at our finger tips through technology, YouTube videos, church web pages, blogs, books on kindle, podcasts, and much more, there is no excuse for any Christian to be stranded, alone, and spiritually malnourished.
Begin by opening the package. Get into the Word. Use the resources available to you.
Finally, through the process keep this thought in mind. “Spiritual growth is not about becoming somebody. It’s about becoming more like Jesus.”
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
ThePreachersWord 
It took me 40 years to untie the gift of God waiting for me that the Teacher of John spoke of when he spoke with the Woman at the Well of Sum Maria in John 4:10.
That verse reads: “If you knew the gift of God,[and]who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
This verse contains the little word “and” that connects the gift of God to the resource of “living water”.
Tied to this gift of God is the name Nathanael. It’s easy to dismiss Nathanael as somebody unimportant to John’s Gospel. And yet, the Name Nathanael means the Gift of God. John 21:2 connects him with Cana (where a wedding takes place) and John 1: 43 declares him as “a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
Now it is easy to dismiss Nathanael as the Gift of God, because the Woman called Maria supposes The Teacher speaking with her and asking her for a drink is the Gift of God that will give her living water.
And of course Rachel (whose name means ewe, a female sheep…a lamb) met Jacob her “husbandman” at a well. He helps her by rolling away the stone from the well’s opening and watering her flock. This encounter leads to a kiss, a declaration of kinship, and eventually, their marriage (Genesis 29:1-14).
Truly there is living water to be discovered…for those who take the time to see how and why the Woman called Maria…and also Magdala came to the garden and sat by the tomb wondering who would roll the stone away…and why she was looking for her “husbandman”,” the Gardener of John 15:1 so that she would not be just a rootless stick or a cursed and rejected non blooming Amygdala (an almond branch). As the stone rolls away…and the Angels declare Christ is risen and the Woman is alone..she and those looking on wonder why she is alone?
Where is her Lord, her husbandman her redeemer who will ensure she becomes a fruitful vine within her Lord’s house; so her children will be like olive shoots around her husband’s table. (Psalm 128:3).
Going a little deeper…we should wonder why the Teacher of Israel tells her he has not stolen the body of her LORD or hidden it from her.
So we should also wonder why the Teacher of Israel tells her not to cling to him for he has not ascended […as Moses once did on the Third day (Exodus 19:19)] to hear God speak with THUNDER.
Does not the Teacher of Israel aka Moses instruct Israel to cling to her Lord in Deuteronomy 10: 20, 11:22, 13:4 and 30:20 and does not Joshua also instruct the Israelites to cling to their Lord as they have always done…especially as they were about to enter into the promised land (Joshua 23:8).
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