Growing Down To Grow Up (Updated) Series

Growing Down to Grow Up

Isaiah 37:31

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6vxYkGs8tQ

It was a real pleasure to host this year’s women’s retreat with Living Grace. It was entitled, “Rightly Rooted.” And when I heard this title, I remember years ago when pastoring Living Grace, which at that time was called, “Hallelujah Christian Fellowship,” as pastors we went and spent a day up in Mount Charleston to seek the Lord as to some things He wanted us to move into.

It was at this time that one of our pastors, “Lynnie Clark,” was given a Scripture verse that started a discipleship emphasis at the church. It was from the Isaiah 37:31. And we’ll look at it in just a moment.

As I thought about this, I remember how as parents we would have a paper ruler hung next to our children’s bedroom door, or we would mark on the wall our children’s height every year and at different stages of their life.

Unfortunately, this is how most of us judge a person’s maturity and age, and that is what can be physically seen and marked.

But when it comes to our spiritual development, it really isn’t that easy. First, our spiritual growth doesn’t begin when the other growth factors begin. You see, we begin our physical, mental, emotional, and social growth at the time of conception. But our spiritual growth begins not at conception, but at conversion. That is, at that point that we turn to Jesus Christ, making Him both our Savior and Lord.

And what I have found is just because someone has been a Christian for many years, doesn’t make them mature. In many ways they are still a child, although their age and church attendance should indicate otherwise.

We see the writer of Hebrews addressing this same issue when He says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Hebrews 5:12 NKJV)

You see, they should be grown up in the Lord, but instead they haven’t grown a bit. And that’s the point I see the Bible making about spiritual maturity, and that is growth isn’t measured in upward movement; rather it is measured downward.

Now, this may sound a little odd, especially in our culture where we encourage people to grow up. We tell our children how much they’ve grown saying, “Look how big your getting,” or “Your getting to be such a big boy or girl.” And once a person is grown up and acting like a child, we tell them to grow up.

And this is how we speak about our spiritual lives. We talk about growing up spiritually. But the reality is that our spirituality has nothing to do with our growing up, rather it has everything to do with our growing down.

Let me now share with you the verse that the Lord shared with us about discipleship and spiritual maturity.

“And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.” (Isaiah 37:31 NKJV)

To understand what the prophet is saying let’s take a look at what was going on at the time. It was during the reign of King Hezekiah, around 700 B.C., when the Assyrian army had invaded Judah and had conquered almost all their fortified cities.

Sennacherib was the Assyrian king, and he sent his field commander to encourage Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to surrender. And so, in the hearing of everyone in Jerusalem, the commander presented some pretty compelling arguments.

First, he said that Egypt, whom Jerusalem was hoping to come to their aide, was in no position to help them.

Second, he said that thinking the Lord would deliver them would be no good because Hezekiah had destroyed most of the high places where they considered God was to be worshipped, but further, since none of the other gods of the other nations were able to deliver them, why did the Jews think that the Lord God would save them.

Hearing these words and reading the demands presented, Hezekiah humbled himself, and went into the temple to pray and seek God’s answer. He also sent for the prophet Isaiah. Now, in response to his prayer, God answered and revealed the outcome. And then to assure Hezekiah of its accuracy, He gave Hezekiah a sign.

First, that for the next two years God would provide for all their needs, and that there would be enough food. And second, God promised that the remnant that escaped would come back and take root downward and bear fruit upward, that is, they will again be established in the land and the land would be fruitful.