I love to see growing things — growing plants, growing animals, and growing children. I love to walk among our flowers in the yard and see them growing. When I was growing up on a farm, I loved to see the growing calves, baby chickens, colts, kittens, and puppies. And when my wife and I brought our infant son home with us, nothing was more exciting than watching him grow. We celebrated every evidence of it.
And I believe that the Heavenly Father celebrates every evidence of growth in the life of His children. The Apostle Peter wrote to some young Christians, “As newborn babes, crave the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2b). New Christians are like newborn babies. Babies have a lot to learn and a lot of growing to do. So do, new Christians.
How does this growth take place? Peter says that it comes as new Christians feed on the Word of God in the same way that babies feed on milk. Hunger for milk is a sign of health in babies. Babies cannot talk, but they can communicate with their parents when they are hungry for milk.
In the same way, new Christians need to crave the “milk” of the word — the simple precepts of the Word. As newborns begin drinking milk, they begin to grow. Peter told these new Christians, “Desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
New Christians need to partake of the “milk of the word.” Steak is a very good food, but not for a newborn baby. While a newborn cannot handle solid food, it will be a tragedy if the infant never matures enough to do so. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he was disappointed that they were still “mere infants in Christ.” He said “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Cor. 3:1-2).
Just as an infant grows toward maturity, so we need to grow in Christ. Paul said of himself, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Cor. 13:11). We need to do the same. That involves moving from the milk of the word to the meat of the Word. And it involves moving from childish ways to the ways of the mature Christian life.
My wife and I enjoyed seeing the growth in our son’s life. We celebrated every evidence of it. And I believe that growth is acceptable and pleasing to our Heavenly Father. But, like loving parents everywhere, growth is also expected by God. He celebrates every demonstration of growing maturity in His children. God loves to see His children grow!
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September 17, 2021 at 04:00PM
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LYNN JONES: Growth is exciting | Lifestyle | djournal.com - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
"exciting" - Google News
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