Moving on to solid food!

Today I started off my day with one thought “Let no one deceive himself.” 1 Corinthians 3:18

I thought about this for awhile and then began to ask God, why am I thinking about this?  Have I deceived myself?  As I began a dialogue in my own mind I quickly answered my own question, and the answer to that was Yes I have deceived myself in the past.  I wanted to grow up so quickly in my walk with God that I didn’t realize that first He feeds us milk like a father feeding His newborn child and then when He sees that we are ready He gives us solid food.  I thought I understood the Bible passage that says:

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. ² 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; ³ for you are still carnal.” 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

As I read this passage today I thought how my life has been since I got to truly know God and how amazing He truly is.  I began thinking that when I first came to know Him that I was that carnal person being fed milk but for sure now I must be on solid food, or so I thought. 

After changing diapers and bottle feeding my children for a period of five years (That’s right just when I thought I was done with diapers and bottles another baby came into our home) I was excited when they finally became dependent.  This is how God treats us.  He first begins by feeding us small amounts of spiritual nourishment that is just enough to keep us fed and He makes sure that He burps us so we don’t vomit out the nourishment that He so carefully and graciously gave us.  See God will not give us more than what He knows we are capable to handle and that goes for our walk with Him as well.  He knows that for us to be transformed from our sinful nature into spiritual beings we must first learn to adjust to our new godly nature before He can finally give us solid spiritual food that we are able to digest ourselves without having to worry about vomiting out what we need for our spiritual nourishment.  Sometimes being treated like a baby by God can take several years before we can stand on our feet and acknowledge our need to change into spiritual creatures.  When I say spiritual creatures I’m not talking about walking around with a Bible under your arm so everyone can see that you are a God fearing person, but spiritual creatures are people that truly make a change inside themselves in a manner that without you saying one word people can sense that you are a godly person. 

I have determined not to allow my sinful nature to control me and to strive to live each day to be the godly women that God called me to be.  I know I didn’t pick myself as a women of God, so I trust and believe that God knew what He was doing when He called me to serve Him (with imperfections and all).  I have finally learned how to use my imperfections and make God perfect in me through them. 

Finally after eighteen years of knowing God I am finally moving on to solid food.  This came much delayed but certainly during the time that God thought was best.  I pray that you will never allow your beliefs to turn into criticism show others that God lives in you by your behavior and not by your knowledge of the word of God.  Sometimes that knowledge can turn into criticism and that criticism can frustrate people that are trying to do their best with God and can impede them from growing spiritually.  May God grant us the grace to be feed solid food and not criticize those who aren’t ready to receive the same meal that we are receiving.