There’s a scene in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, where the youngest of the Pevensie siblings, Lucy, is speaking to the lion, Aslan. It’s been a while since they’ve seen each another and she is astonished at his growth. “You’ve grown,” she tells him. “Every year you grow, so shall I,” he replies.
And with those words, he touches upon a truth that should never be far from us: the standard for evaluating all growth is Jesus. Whether it is personal growth, marital growth, church growth, etc., it won’t do to worship growth itself for not all growth is good (tumors, malignancies, etc.). Quantity is always secondary to quality and that is determined by its likeness to Christ.
As Aslan reminded Lucy, the more we grow in grace, the bigger Jesus becomes. If He hasn’t grown, than the reality is, neither have we. And of course, it’s not that Jesus actually grows, but the more we do the keener our ability becomes to see Him as He really is.
It was this way with Peter. The more he was around Jesus, the bigger He became. From the wedding feast in Cana to the calming of the sea, from walking on the water to the feeding of the five thousand, from the resurrection of Lazarus to His own resurrection, Jesus became bigger as Peter grew. He found out that you can’t outgrow Jesus, you can’t outgrow grace, you can’t outgrow God.
That same Peter tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. The more we do the bigger He will become. I guess all that is left is to ask ourselves, “As I get older, is Jesus getting bigger?”
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:18).
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 