Congratulations once again on your decision to follow Jesus. In the first part of this article, I explained your new identity as a child of God. I advise you to read it because it is important you know who you are. As God’s child, there are certain things expected of you. Just as a newborn baby needs food, care and certain vaccines to grow and be healthy, you also need to do certain things so that you can grow spiritually.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
DESIRE GOD’S WORD (1 Peter 2:2): As a newborn in Christ, you must desire the milk of God’s word. Your identity as a child of God means that you have to eat God’s word to grow strong and healthy. Get a Bible; hard copy preferably. Read it as often as possible. It is also good you have a daily routine for reading God’s word. You can start with spending thirty minutes daily. Reading God’s word will help you understand who God is. It will also open your eyes to what God expects of you.
As you read your Bible, take time to study God’s word too. Don’t just read what God has said, spend quality time learning more about His ways through consistent study. Meditate on God’s word too. Meditation means focusing your thoughts on what God has said in His Word and pondering on it. Meditation helps you keep your mind on God, and this opens you up to greater possibilities in God. God instructed Joshua to meditate on His word day and night. Make God’s word the first thing you wake up to, and the last thing you read before you sleep. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16).
TALK TO YOUR FATHER ALWAYS (1 Thessalonians 5:17): No child wants an inaccessible father. Now that you are God’s child, heaven’s line is open to you 24/7. All you need to do is dial in through prayers. Prayer is not a chore to be done grudgingly; it is sweet communion with God our Father. It is having a heart to heart conversation with God about everything.
Take everything to God in prayers, and listen to His response. Spend time talking to Him. He longs to hear your voice every day. Just as Adam hosted God’s presence in the cool of the day, you can now host God in your place of prayers. Don’t allow a day to pass without speaking to Him. Pray without ceasing.
FIND A HEALTHY CHURCH: No child grows in isolation. It is, therefore, important that you find a Bible-believing church and join them. Let me emphasize ‘Bible believing’ because there are many dangerous churches out there. Churches where Jesus is not preached and sin is embraced are not safe. Any church that lays so much emphasis on the mundane at the expense of the spiritual is not safe either. As God’s child, He has given you His Holy Spirit, and if you go to a church where you see red flags, kindly seek God’s face in prayers about it. Attending an unhealthy church will make you an unhealthy Christian, and this might become hazardous to you in the long run.
GATHER AND FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS (Hebrew 10:25): Apart from finding a healthy church, gather and fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Just as each part of the body gets nourished by the other parts, you become sharpened as you fellowship with other believers. Don’t despise the gathering of the believers. You will find strength and help during such corporate gatherings.
GET TO WORK (1 Corinthians 3:9): Take your church attendance a step further, and volunteer to serve in a unit. God has jobs for every citizen of His Kingdom. Ask God to show you where He needs your service, and get to work. Don’t be busy doing nothing in God’s house. As you walk with the Lord, work for Him too. Roll up your sleeves, and make God proud with your fervent and selfless service. Are you good with children? Ask God to show you how you can use this gift in His Kingdom. There is always a place for you to serve: get to work.
GET BAPTIZED (Mark 1:8): This scripture tells us about the two important baptisms a Christian must have: Water baptism and the Holy Spirit baptism. Water baptism is water immersion, and this signifies our public identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Holy Spirit baptism, however, means being filled with the Holy Spirit. The moment you gave your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit came into you. He now lives in you, and as awesome as this is, there is still more. Just as you get wet when you get baptized in water, you get filled to a measure with God’s life when you get baptized in the Holy Spirit. One of the evidences of this baptism is that you begin to speak in another tongue. God gives you a private language which you can always use to communicate with Him. (Acts 2: 1-4, Acts 10:44-46)
DON’T DO THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR FATHER SAD (2 Timothy 2:19): When you gave your life to Christ, you became a new creature (1 Corinthians 5:17). This means that your old and sinful habits and attitudes are no longer acceptable. Whatever you did as an unbeliever has to change now because you have been saved to give God pleasure.
The Holy Spirit, who lives in you, can help you overcome every ungodly habit and attitude. He is your helper, and He knows the things that make God happy. Make Him your friend and allow Him to teach you how to make God happy. Your life is no longer yours (1 Corinthians 3:23). You have been bought with the precious price of the blood of Jesus, and like a soldier, you must live to please your commanding officer, Our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 2:4).
These are some of your key responsibilities as a child of God, and your spiritual growth depends on how well you do them.