There’s a great deal of expectation for children to develop and grow. Why not? If they didn’t we would be changing our teenager’s diapers! I see our kids working really hard to teach our grandchildren to properly use the bathroom. It’s not only good for the kids, the parents benefit too!
Do you know that adults struggle with
change? It seems to me that after about age 25 or 30, many people stop growing
and developing. They slide into “life habits” and start coasting. It’s very
unfortunate. In childhood and young adulthood, the young are subject to
structured education in school, forcing them to grow and learn. But real
education, life education requiring serious change and development, really
becomes necessary in adulthood, and it never ends until death. Most people
coast because they become comfortable, and therefore complacent about their
life development. They don’t have the interest or motivation to change.
The Scriptures are written almost
exclusively for adults, and yet the Scriptures command people to change. One
key passage is 2 Timothy 2:15, which is part of a larger set of instructions
for people to take their spiritual growth and development seriously, else they
lose it!
“Make every effort to present yourself before G-d as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth.”
A big requirement for change has to be
community. It’s hard to change all by yourself; you need others who know you very,
very well, to help you make serious change in your life. That’s why the
Scripture commands close community, something very rarely practiced among
believers today in America. We are too busy for one another it seems, too busy
for G-d as well. Too busy to really make any serious spiritual change. But
Hebrews 10:24-25 commands us otherwise:
“And let us consider how to stir up
one another to love and good deeds. And do not neglect
our own meetings, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another—and all
the more so as you see the Day approaching.”
Rosh
Hashanah starts on Monday night September 6.
Take time during the High Holidays this year to reflect on your life: your
priorities, the use of your time, your values, your commitment to G-d. What
needs to change? I don’t care how old you are! What needs to change so
you can better fulfill G-d’s expectation for your life. You’re never too
old to change!
Forward for Messiah!
Kirk Gliebe
Rabbi &
Director
