Milk or Meat?
Every church is made up of people from all walks of life.
Some are young, some are old, some are rich, some are poor, some are men and some are women. There are people that are new in their relationship with Christ and those who have walked with Him for decades. The one thing we all have in common when we start our relationship with Jesus is that we are all newborns in Christ.
No one becomes a “Super Christian” the moment they accept Jesus as their Savior (or for that matter, ever does become one, although over time pride can certainly make us think we are)
The Apostle Paul spent 3 years being taught by Jesus Himself before he started preaching and the only person I know of that even came close to accomplishing as much as Paul would be Billy Graham.
1 Peter 2:2-3 tells us “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you may grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
Peter is telling us that salvation is not a onetime experience but a journey that takes a lifetime to grow into. It’s not a one and done “get out of hell” free card and it’s certainly not an easy journey. New believers are on fire for God because they have tasted his kindness and they are craving more.
In the beginning they need someone to feed them this spiritual milk. They need to be discipled by older believers until they can feed themselves. That is why I love Fellowship. FC Groups allow people to learn and ask questions in safe environments.
2 Peter 3:18 says “But grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”
But just like babies we need to start eating solid food if we are to continue growing in Christ. Once we have been taught the basics of our faith, it is time for us to dig deeper on our own. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 3 that when he was with them he had to talk as though they belonged to the world or as though they were infants in Christ. He had to feed them with milk and not with meat because they were not ready for anything stronger. Yet, they still weren’t ready because they were controlled by their sinful nature.
What I find interesting is that Peter in his letter, in the verse before he told us to crave spiritual milk, said “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.” Basically the same thing Paul is saying. Stop allowing the sinful nature to control you! We defeat the sinful nature and grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus by spending time with Him in reading His Word, meditating on His Word, memorizing His Word, praying His Word, gathering with other believers, investing time one on one with others, being still before God and turning off the world’s noise.
So how do we know if we have been eating meat and are not still drinking milk?
I don’t know because I think it is different for each one of us.
For some, it’s feeling God’s presence more throughout the day.
For some, it’s realizing life doesn’t scare you like it used to.
For some, it’s stepping out by faith to teach in the kid’s or youth ministry or lead an FC group even when you don’t feel ready (because we never are without God).
For some, it is answering the call to full time ministry or the mission field or going on a short term mission trip.
For some, it’s opening their home to those in need.
For me , it was praying scriptures and prayers that have the potential to turn my life upside down like: