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| Volume 25 Number 12 December 2023 |
Page 8 |
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| Volume 25 Number 12 December 2023 |
Page 8 |
Roger Wright
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:2-3 NKJV). Babies hunger for milk. While I would prefer a steak dinner, babies need and want simple, easy to swallow and easy to digest food. That is just as it should be. Similarly, it is common to see a new Christian with a fervor to learn more Scripture, to attend every service to learn more and to find other avenues to learn the way of a disciple.
Little children have a passion for learning. They drink in information about the world around them, about people and about new ideas. We see it in their curiosity, their play, their talk and their questions (especially the pervasive “Why?”). Perhaps this is one of the ways for which Jesus exhorted us to become like little children (Matthew 18:3).
Granted, one should not remain a child forever. Just as we graduate to solid foods, in spiritual terms, we need to graduate to greater things. A lack of growth in our spiritual learning is a sign of worldliness and not spiritual maturity. “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3) Also note Hebrews 5:12-13 which says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.”
Many of us have been Christians for several years, and hopefully, our eagerness to learn and to grow has never stopped. The Bible is full of the spiritual food we need to sustain us. The church is to “continue steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine” (Acts 2:42). That’s why we have classes to provide opportunities for learning and growth, along with preaching that is designed to instruct, to motivate and to build us up in the Faith.
When we stop learning, we stop growing. When we stop growing, we start dying. Every one of us needs the pure, perfect Word of God to direct our lives, to help us grow in faith and to prepare us for eternal life in Heaven with God. Open your Bible and study it for yourself. Avail yourself of every learning and worship experience the church offers, and feast on the good Word of God, which is able to save your soul.
