Hi, friends, this is Kirsten Holmberg from Our Daily Bread. I'd like to share today's

devotional reading with you that I titled Moving Toward maturity. A recent survey asked respondents

to identify the age at which they believed they became adults. Those who

considered themselves adults pointed to specific behaviors as evidence of their status. Having a

budget and buying a house topped the list as being marks of adulting. Other adult activities ranged from cooking dinner every weeknight

and scheduling one's own medical appointments

to the more humorous ability to choose to eat snacks for dinner

or being excited to stay home on a Saturday evening instead of going out.

The Bible says we should press on towards spiritual maturity as well. In Ephesians 413,

Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, urging the people to become mature, attaining to the whole

measure of the fullness of Christ. While we're young in our faith, we're vulnerable to every

wind of teaching, which often

results in division among us. Instead, as we mature in our understanding of the truth, we

function as a unified body under Him who is the head. That is Christ. God gave us His Spirit to help us grow into a full understanding of who he is,

and he equips pastors and teachers to instruct and lead us toward maturity in our faith.

Just as certain characteristics are evidence of physical maturity,

our unity, as his body is evidence of our spiritual growth.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Ephesians, Chapter 4,

verses 11 through 16. So himself gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists

the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of christ may be

built up until we all reach unity in the faith, and in the knowledge of the

Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

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