Spring Time Reflections

“Growing Edge”

Each year when spring arrives, I often think of what a retired pastor used to say to me, he would say “Curtiss that is your “growing edge.” Jay was not only a retired pastor but also a retired farmer, and so the use of that term meant more to him than it did to me during those early days of my ministry. It was not until later that I began to understand that he was encouraging me in the new beginnings that he would see happening in my life. Now for plants there is a whole science around understanding their relationship in response to the environment and a Swiss company has found a way to measure a “growing edge.” Phytl Signs is a device that digitally processes plant electricity and converts those signals to a computer through a sensor that looks similar to a Pulse Oximeter that measures a person’s oxygen level and heartbeat. The sensor is attached to a leaf of a plant, and it detects changes in the environment that the plant notices and reacts to. So, our growing edge is a growth within us that is visible and measurable by others as we respond to our environment.

I like how Paul talks about growing in Ephesians 4:14-16 (ESV) ”so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

As we “grow up,” we are no longer children, no longer deceived instead we know what love truly looks like and how to wield it in the Body. In other words, our “growing edge” is revealed in our decisions, understanding and in our love for God and one another. So, where is your growing edge? Do you want to grow into greater maturity? Grow in your understanding of truth? Grow in awareness of how much God loves you or in how you are loving others? It is certain that we will grow in some way in all these areas until our last breath, but for today just pick one “growing edge” for the days ahead and as you reach out within the Body of Christ, encourage others in their growth as well.

-Curtiss Kanagy, Pastor