Spiritual diet

Imagine you walk into your local Wendy’s to grab dinner. As you sit down, you notice a teenager sitting at a table not too far away. His mom is sitting across from him. No big deal, right? You see this all the time.

But here is where things get a little bizarre. His mom reaches into her purse and pulls out a jar of baby food. You watch in amazement as she pulls out a feeding spoon, opens the jar, and begins feeding her teenager.

Sound pretty weird? I am guessing that would draw a lot of attention and seem a little out of place. You might think, “Hey, shouldn’t he be eating a burger or something? Doesn’t this guy know how to feed himself? Doesn’t he want something with a little more substance than peas from a blender?”

Absolutely!

But here’s the irony. While we would think it’s ridiculous for a teenager to be spoon-fed baby food at Wendy’s, many teenagers think nothing of being spoon-fed spirituality. They continue to look for the soft meals that are easy to swallow and require little effort. These students – and if we’re going to be fair, some adults as well – don’t want to move beyond the baby food when it comes to growing spiritually.

In Hebrews 5:11-14, we read the following: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Are you settling for the milk – the baby food – when it comes to spiritual growth? Are you maturing as a follower of Christ or are you still sitting in a spiritual preschool?

Sometimes maturing in our spirituality is hard work. It requires us to make sacrifices and change our priorities. It demands that we seek righteousness in our thinking and actions. It will often lead us to places where we must make difficult decisions. But the further we travel down the path, the more we will experience the joy, peace, and abundant life that Jesus talks about.

You stopped eating baby food a long time ago, right? Is it time for you to change your “eating” habits in your spiritual diet?

 

shine!
Jason