“My friend offered me the command of a ship, but upon mature consideration, I declined…I thought I had better make another voyage first, learn to obey, and acquire further insight and experience in business before I ventured to undertake such a change.”

I read this and almost got goose-bumps. In his autobiography John Newton is describing a new found maturity in Christ, having been newly converted by God’s grace “for now the Lord’s time was come” . Newton began to experience a change in his life that he knew was not of his own, for he up until now never wanted this change in his life, nor had he the ability to have it so. In his account he could not help himself in giving God due glory for what he quickly was becoming, stating, “I can see no reason why the Lord singled me out for mery but this, that so it seemed good to Him…my strength was no more than my righteousness.”.
As a youth pastor this excited me greatly. To know that those things that I am teaching from God’s Word can have this same affect in the lives of my teens. This testimony echos what scripture has said all along that real maturity (wisdom) is found only in Christ.