Bit-by-Bit

Most of life is a bit-by-bit process. Education works that way, adding knowledge and understanding each day, week, month and year. Investing is also like a slow forward motion. You start with very little, and then, bit-by-bit as you learn more and apply the “Rule of 72” to your investment choices, you gradually see amazing results.

Most of Life is Gradual

Proverbs 4:14-18 shows the gradual nature of the “path of the wicked” and the “path of the righteous.” This proverb seems to suggest you can earn God’s favor by taking the right path. That is certainly not true based on a careful review of the Old and New Testament scriptures. Rather, it is talking about the difference between a person who doesn’t understand their nature and path and the person who, understanding their nature has been and is being transformed by the gospel as they live their life.

14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.

15 Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

The Way God Works

When it comes to the events of history and God’s sovereign working, he often does things gradually. God’s plans and promises often unfold gradually, according to His perfect timing. We see this with promises made in Genesis and then throughout the Old Testament. Those promises pointed to Jesus and the hope of the gospel. John’s Gospel makes this plain as do the other gospel authors. But it is more than accepting what God has provided by faith, it is walking a path theologians call sanctification. Sanctification is a gradual process of spiritual growth and maturity.

Spiritual Growth and Maturity

The Bible frequently uses agricultural metaphors to describe spiritual growth, emphasizing gradual development. In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus shares a Parable of a growing seed, illustrating how the Kingdom of God grows imperceptibly and gradually, much like a seed that sprouts and matures over time. Anyone who has planted something knows growth is gradual.

The Apostle Paul speaks to the gradual process of spiritual maturity in Ephesians 4:15-16, in this way: “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.” This growth is a lifelong journey, requiring patience and perseverance.

Patience and Perseverance

It would be foolish to pray, “Lord, make me completely patient right now.” You have to live life in a world that will test your patience and your perseverance. This all happens gradually. So, I submit that just about everything about everyone’s life is like a path that gradually takes you somewhere. Just be extremely careful to pick the right path.

Five Minute Friday

This post is part of the weekly Five-Minute Friday link-up.All scripture passages are from the English Standard Version except as otherwise noted.