Greetings
How are things in your part of the world? Are you still on lockdown? And do you have access to fresh food and water? Not everyone does as yet, and some countries are reopening borders to ensure economic survival and access to food in these trying times. How about spiritual food? Are you being adequately fed? Consider today’s Holy Nougat
“I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready,” 1 Corinthians 3:2 NLT
Most times I read this passage, I am overcome by a sense of embarrassment for us believers. Because it indicates that I (we) didn’t make it to spiritual maturity. If we had, then we would have graduated to solid food. For you don’t feed toddlers on milk only; they need something with a little more substance in order to survive. And, with world as it currently is, we need to not only survive, but also thrive. So let’s go back to the building blocks of Living Things. We’ve looked at Respiration, Movement, Growth and Sensitivity (or Irritability) thus far; and we are focusing now on Nutrition.
Food is essential for life.
In my youth, there was famine in a country, and the appeals to the rest of the world often included pictures of children with distended bellies, protruding eyes and skeleton bodies. I can’t say they were very successful in getting aid for the children; but they succeeded in demonstrating the need for adequate nutrition.
Interestingly, one knows that having been deprived of food (or water) for an extended time, one has to cautiously replenish. That is the case, regardless of who we are or the reason(s) for our deprivation. I’m told that the stomach may even shrink and so the wrong foods can exacerbate an unhealthy situation, rather than help it. So attempting solid food could result in sickness instead of wellness. Not good. And if we are thirsty to parchedness; sipping is safer since gulping water almost guarantees feelings of nausea and vomiting. Evidently, when dealing with nourishment, moderation and modulation are equally important for healthy living.
The thing is; despite my embarrassment about spiritual milk, it is essential for a believer’s development. If we don’t understand Basic principles that undergird our faith, we run the risk of being malnourished believers. And when the season of tempting comes – as it certainly does – we might not have a leg to stand on. We need teaching that is sound, and wisdom in discerning God’s Word if we are to achieve good nutrition.
God’s Word is our main food source as believers, especially for new believers or young converts (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). But, God’s Spirit also helps us to process the food for good digestion and understanding spiritual truths. We also remember that in Matthew 4, the Accuser of the saints picked on Jesus to tempt Him. And the Accuser used Holy Scripture during that process. We cannot be content with merely Knowing God’s Word; we must be like the bovines (cows), chewing and digesting multiple times and ways so the Word is properly absorbed in our spirits.
Remember the Ethiopian eunuch. He was reading the Bible, God’s Word; but he was malnourished. It was Not enough. He needed spiritual supplements to help him digest what he was reading. We thus use supplements like devotional materials (such as Holy Nougats), Bible study, sermons, prayer and fasting (denying our physical bodies of food so that we prayerfully focus on God and God’s Word), to increase our knowledge and strength.
So my dears, we eat to live. And by God’s grace, the spiritual food we partake of will strengthen us and sustain us in the time of temptation. May God’s Word keep us as milk and solid food always.
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
