Have you ever seen a puppy (oops, I mean baby) that just made you overflow with emotion?
There you are, minding your own business when the cutest puppy (baby) you have ever seen crosses your path. Soft cuddly fur. Big floppy ears. Tripping over its own feet. Excited about everything. You just can’t help it. You drop everything just so that you can be with it. Hold it. Pet it. Scoop it up and let it kiss your cheeks. Maybe you even catch a whiff of that “puppy (baby) breath” that is sweeter than the sweetest smelling perfume. The puppy (baby) has filled you to the brim with joy, with wonder, with awe. You suddenly speak “puppy (baby) talk”….you know that high-pitched excited voice. “Who’s the good wittle fella? Who’s such a good boy? You want a treat? Oh, I’d give you so many treats if I had any with me! I just want to hold you and squeeze you and love you! You’re sooooooooooo cute!!!”
Ever experienced that? Do puppies (babies) make you act that way?
(Ok. For the astute reader, you might recognize that this is the exact same beginning as last week’s devotional. I figured I owed you two weeks of cute and cuddly as we had experienced two weeks of creepy and yucky. This week I have just inserted the term “baby” for “puppy.” You also might notice that some of the descriptors don’t exactly fit for a baby. I know. I thought it was funny to leave some of that stuff in there. Now, the astute reader might also be wondering how far I will continue with this trend. After all, I admitted that I don’t really gush all over puppies in last week’s reading. Plus, I put kittens down. Can I possibly be so cruel when it comes to babies? Is this really where I’m about to go with this devotional?)
Alright. Here it comes. I don’t go wild over babies either. In all reality, I really don’t go wild about much. For the most part, I’m a pretty low-key guy. Yes, I find babies cute. Yes, I will make silly faces and will try to get them to laugh at me. Yes, I enjoy babies more than puppies (and way more than kitties). However, if you’d compare me to some other folks I know…my reactions are pretty tame. That is not a reflection of my heart for babies. It is just the way I roll.
Again, regardless of whether or not you would hear me squeal from down the street when a baby enters the room, I thank God for babies. I thank God for the joy that they bring, for the way that they can brighten a room. I thank God for the hope of life that is contained within them and for the way that God loves each one of them dearly, completely. I thank God for their curiosity, for their expressiveness, for their dependence upon others to take care of them. Yes, I thank God for babies (and I hope that you do too)!
Here’s a thing about babies, though. They grow up. They don’t stay in babyhood forever, especially when they are your kids. You blink your eye a few times and you have a toddler. The next second they’re off to kindergarten. Before you know it, a teenager is upon you. A couple of blinks after that and they are out of school, employed, and having their own family. Babies don’t stay babies. They grow up. That cute little bundle of slobber and drool will not stay that way forever. One day they will be like you and I. A full-grown adult human who is likely far less cute than their baby version. Guess what? I, for one, am thankful for this fact. As much as we can enjoy babies, I’m thankful that they do not stay that way. I’m thankful that they grow, develop, that there is more to their life than sleep, eat, poo, repeat. (Although that description can also be used for many of us adults as well.) Yes, I’m grateful that babies do not stay babies. You should be too.
Here’s why.
I do not wish to rob any baby of the experiences, of the life that lays before them.
I do not wish to take away the sunsets, the laughter, the relationships. I do not want to remove the chance for family bonds or life-long friendships. I want for babies to get the chance to move past puréed peas and have the opportunity to taste grilled asparagus. I hope that they get the chance to move beyond those little puffs that dissolve in their mouth and get to experience a nice, greasy slice of pepperoni pizza. I want for them to learn to walk, to run, to swim, to jump, to skip rope. I want for them to get to feel the breeze blowing through the window of a car, to hear music that inspires them, to sing, to dance, to shout. I’d love for them to get to see the ocean at least once, to feel the sand in between their toes, to feel a wave crash on their back. I want for them to find out what makes them laugh, what brings them joy. There is sooooooo much life that I want for each baby that I would never want for them to stay a baby and miss all of that (even if they’re cute and it might seem nice if they would stay that way forever). Yes, I know that I’ve skipped over the bad stuff. I’ve bypassed the suffering that might lay before them, the heartache and the pain. Still, I wouldn’t want to keep from them the opportunity to experience the love of the Lord that reaches beyond life’s hardships. I want for babies to learn, to grow, to experience life. I want for them to grow into the people that God has planned for them to be. Babies do not stay babies, and I am grateful for that fact (even if there are occasions where I wish we could take a return trip to visit Silas in babyland if for but a moment).
Hopefully, at this point, you agree with me. Hopefully you recognize that it would not be the best thing for a child to stay as a child, for a baby to stay as a baby. Instead, it is better for them to grow, to experience life. This is God’s design, this is God’s plan, and it really is a good one. If we really want what is best for people, our desire should be for them to grow out of babyhood and enter adulthood. In the course of a baby’s life, it really is best that they grow, that they develop, that they live to experience life as an adult. To try to keep a person in an “infant” state would be to deprive them of all life has to offer.
The same can be said for our spiritual lives as well.
It is a wonderful thing to see someone who is new to the faith, someone who has just realized the forgiveness that Jesus has offered and has accepted that gift of life by giving their lives to Christ. It is great to see commitments of faith, and we should certainly celebrate new believers. However, we are not meant to continue on as spiritual infants. The design is similar to the design of our physical bodies. There should be growth. There should be development. There should be new life that we experience in our Christian walk that we would have missed out on if we remain as spiritual infants. Though this is the case, too often we find ourselves arrested in our spiritual development, stuck in babyland without even knowing that there is more to be had.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, addressed this issue. Look at what he said.
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
~1 Corinthians 3:1-3
To paraphrase, Paul says, “I can’t talk to you like spiritual adults. I couldn’t address you as if you live by the Spirit. You are still worldly. Mere infants. So, I had to give you a bottle. Milk. Not meat. Barely warmed. Not hot enough to scald. Nothing chewy. Nothing substantial. Why? You fight. You quarrel. You act like Jesus is not in your hearts. I have to address you with baby-talk. You live according to worldly means, according to worldly measures.”
The implication here is that this should not be so. Paul expected for believers in Jesus to be growing in their faith, to be guided by the Spirit, to cast aside worldly desires and be filled with heavenly ones. For the audience in Corinth at that time, this was not the case. Paul still had to feed them baby food. They were so caught up in worldly issues that they weren’t able to digest spiritual ones.
Friend, what about you?
What are you able to eat?
If you’re new to your relationship with Jesus, it is great to be bottle-fed. It is important to drink the milk, to learn the beginning steps of what a life of faith looks like. However, it is also important not to stay there. No, I don’t mean that we must get some theological education and learn impressive sounding words. It is OK to keep our language simple and to continue to ponder the profound truth that is found in statements like “God is love”. I’m not talking about trying to sound impressive. Instead, I’m talking about actually becoming more mature in our faith. Putting aside the things that draw us away from Jesus. Becoming less concerned with worldly measures, with worldly success. Seeking God in all aspects of our lives. Learning the Scripture, becoming familiar with the Word of God, incorporating the truth of the Gospel in our daily affairs. Being sensitive to the Spirit, displaying the Spirit’s fruits. Seeking God in prayer.
There is a lot of life to be found in our Christian faith. There is steak to be grilled and eaten. Not only that, but there is fresh corn on the cob, grilled asparagus, baked potatoes, and warm brownies with ice cream as well. There are depths to our faith that we have not yet reached. There are heights to our journey that we have not yet scaled. There is a path before us that we have not yet taken. Life to be lived. Faith to be discovered. And yet, many of us are content to be rocked, content to be cradled, content to sip on our bottles, content to stay right were we are…in babyland.
How about you?
Have you grown in your faith since you first met Jesus? Are you closer to him this year than you were ten years ago? Are you maturing as a believer in Christ?
Or are you still drinking milk with people coming by and saying “ooohhh how cute! What a cute wittle baby!”?
I hope that you are growing. I pray that you are maturing. I want for you to experience all that Jesus has to offer, the depths of his mercy, the richness of his love, the joy, the hope, the peace, the life that He brings. I want that for myself as well. I do not wish for us to stay as spiritual infants because I know that is not what is best for us.
So, would you pray with me? Would you ask God, “Please deepen my faith. Please draw me closer. I want to grow in my relationship with you, Jesus.”? I pray that you do. I pray that we would never have to eat puréed peas again, but that we would enjoy all of the fullness that God has to offer.
Yes, I thank God for babies, but I also thank God that they grow.
~ Pastor Chris
