One Hundred Years to Grow Up
Of all reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and birds, which species lives the longest? The winner is the mysterious Greenland shark, which makes its home in the icy Arctic. Some of these big sharks are more than five hundred years old! They grow up slowly too. At age fifty, they’re still kids. At one hundred? They’re teens. Only by age one hundred fifty are the sharks all grown-up. (Imagine waiting over one hundred years to move out of your parents’ house!)
Sometimes it seems as if we grow as slowly as a Greenland shark, especially when it comes to heart stuff. We find ourselves making lots of mistakes: We blow up at our siblings or parents. We aren’t patient. And we often have an attitude.
The Bible encourages us that, even if we can’t see it, God is working on our hearts: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6 NIV). Did you catch that? God promises to complete all the good stuff He started in you.
But the growth that happens in our hearts takes time. Here’s the good news: you’ll grow up way faster than a Greenland shark.
