DON’T STAY A BABY!

There is nothing more beautiful than a baby, is there? A baby makes everyone smile. The other day Serene and I were doing our grocery shopping together. She was carrying Breeze (two months old) in her arms. Nearly everyone stopped to look at the baby or talk to her. “I’m the star of the show,” Serene commented, “just because I’m carrying a baby!”

The baby nurses at the breast and is totally dependent on his mother for its sustenance and comfort. As the baby gets older, the mother introduces solid food and feeds it to her baby on a spoon. What fun it is to feed a baby, to watch them open their mouths like a little bird. But the baby keeps growing and there comes the time when he snatches the spoon from the mother because he wants to feed himself! This is all part of growing up and gradually gaining independence.

There comes a time when we must learn to
feed for ourselves.

It is the same in our spiritual lives. When we are newly born into God’s family we need someone to teach us in the ways of God and help to feed us. 1 Peter 2:2 NIV says, “Like new-born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” But just like a little baby, we are meant to grow. There comes a time when we want to take the spoon from our spiritual teacher and begin to feed ourselves! Hebrews 4:1214 CEV says, “By now you should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food. People who live on milk are like babies who don’t really know what is right. Solid food is for mature people who have been trained to know right from wrong.”

Many believers don’t lift a spoon to feed themselves from the living Word of God throughout the whole week!

It is very sad that many people in Christendom today are still babies. They want to be spoon-fed. The majority of Christians go to church each Sunday eager to hear a word from the pastor. They open their mouths and the pastor spoons it in. Unfortunately, they haven’t lifted a spoon to feed themselves from the living Word of God throughout the whole week!

When I was young we were constantly admonished from the pulpit to establish our own Quiet Time. In other words, to set aside a time each day to pray, read the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit speak into our lives. This was a normal part of the believer’s lifestyle. Today, I rarely hear preachers encouraging their congregations to dig into the Word for themselves. Consequently, the church is full of babies.

When the early believers came together, they didn’t rely on a pastor to preach the Word to them. Every one of them came ready to share. We read in 1 Corinthians 14:26, “How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”

The early believers delved into the Scriptures day by day. They only had the Old Testament at that time, but as we know, “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.” They could now see the glorious revelations in the Old Testament of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They could see the types and fulfillments in the writings about the tabernacle and the offerings. They kept getting new revelation and were excited to share it with the others.

Can you imagine what our church services would be like today if believers arrived, excited and overflowing and ready to share revelation from the Scriptures they have read during the week? There is nothing more exciting. When believers begin to feed upon God’s Word for themselves, they grow in leaps and bounds. Just as we observe children grow and get taller, so others will notice our growth in the Lord.  Paul encouraged Timothy, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (Timothy 4:15)

Mothers, are we raising handicapped spiritual babies or young men and women who are tall and strong in the Lord because they know how to daily feed for themselves?

Now the challenge comes to us mothers. How are we training our children? Are we training them to be little babies who are spoon-fed at Sunday school and church? Or are we training them to feed from God’s living Word each day for themselves? This is one of the most important things we must do in discipling our children. Are we raising handicapped spiritual babies or young men and women who are strong in their faith because they know how to daily feed for themselves?

To begin this training you may like to try this idea. Start your homeschooling day this way. Teach them to look for treasures in the Bible. Purchase for yourself and each one of your reading children a hard-covered diary with a page for every day of the year. Begin with opening your Bibles and journals at the appropriate date. Decide which book of the Bible you will go through, reading a chapter each day.

Pray first and then encourage them to silently read the chapter, LOOKING AND EXPECTING GOD TO SPEAK TO THEM PERSONALLY. Do it together. You, along with your children. We all look for the Scripture that speaks to us most powerfully in the chapter.

We write the Scripture at the top of the page and then write what God says to us. It is amazing how that even writing the Scripture brings more understanding. As you write the revelation, more understanding comes. We then write a prayer of response to the Lord. This makes the Word of God personal and real, rather than a reading chore.

After we have all finished, I read out loud the Scripture and what God has revealed to me. The children then read their Scripture and what God spoke to them. We are blessed not only by reading, but also by writing and sharing.

Of course, everyone has their own ways that suit their lifestyle and family life. You may prefer to encourage your children to find a special spot on their own where they can have their Quiet Time with the Lord. Whatever you encourage, inspire them to listen carefully to the Holy Spirit and to write down what God speaks to them. Writing daily what God speaks to me has been the greatest blessing of my Christian walk.

“No Bible, no breakfast!”

I remember reading about an old Chinese saint. He used to say, “No Bible, no breakfast!” He wouldn’t eat anything until he first ate his breakfast from the Word of God. I also love the example of Noel Garrett, who every morning came to the bedsides of each of his eleven children and lay a Bible on their pillows so they would remember to feed from the Word of God before they arose for the day. You can read this testimony in The Best-Read Book in our Home by Shirley Powell.

NANCY CAMPBELL
Above Rubies