Devotionals

LEARNING HOW TO WALK

by Henry Jaegers
12/21/20
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JESUS SAID, FOLLOW ME: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

By Henry Jaegers

LEARNING HOW TO WALK

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (I Peter 2:1-3)

As I was thinking about learning how to walk as being one of the first things we have to do as a Christian, the verse above, came to mind and I began to realize, that before we can learn to walk, we first need to learn how to grow. Of course, learning to grow assumes automatically that birth has taken place is true of both physical and spiritual growth. There has to be a point of beginning before progress can be made. That's a principle that we all understand and needs no elaboration. But when I am talking about the Christian, I am talking about something greater than physical birth.

Over the many years that I have been a Christian, one of the things that cause concern in my soul is to find so many Christians who never progress beyond the new birth experience. When asked to share something that God is doing, what I usually hear is a testimony of the time in history where they receive the Lord. We sometimes worry about the lost world around us composed of friends and relatives etc. but there is another world that we must be concerned about. As long as Christians remain in spiritual infancy, no one with whom they have associations will ever hear the Good News. (If it is not good news to us, how shall we ever convince them if it doesn’t reflect from our life and love). The reason is because of arrested spiritual growth. Imagine what it would be like if we could somehow get them motivated to see how exciting the Christian life is, and the many opportunities that abound that go unnoticed because as spiritual babes, we do not see them, and if we do, we do not know how to address and take advantage of them.

As I looked carefully as to the original meaning of these words, the word for “babes” speaks of the babe in his embryonic stage still in the womb of its mother and through the pure milk provided by the mother, this embryonic form begins to grow. We don't have to be medical doctors to understand that. Just look at the woman after about six months and see for yourself. This babe in the womb does not need to be encouraged to drink its mother's milk. It does so naturally because that's what embryos do. Perhaps that's all that it does and by drinking this pure undiluted liquid that the mother produces, the baby grows. So, when you think of this verse, it's not talking about the baby outside the womb, although that may be true for a few days, what it is saying is this newborn baby yet in embryonic form, desires the incorruptible word from the mother, in like manner, that is how we are to hunger after the unpolluted word of God.

Now that is the ideal. But as we begin our Christian life, are we getting that pure, undefiled words to help us to grow, or is it the homogenized milk or maybe the skim milk with all the nutrients taken out and is used as a substitute for the real thing. Again, you may ask where I am going with this.

In the word of God, we are told clearly how we are to spend our time in understanding God's word. When God spoke to Joshua and prepared him to lead the children of Israel,

  his instructions were very clear. He was told to meditate on the Scriptures day and night to understand, and function to the point where it became a part of his life. Why was meditating on the word of God important to Joshua? And may I add, and why is it important to us as well? If we think about it, God knows all about the problems of mankind. I think we can say without hesitation the most prevailing problems with mankind is the problem of sin. The problem with sin is a problem with the exaltation of a man being on the throne instead of God. By meditating on the Scripture, God's servants begin to understand the problems that mankind faces without God, and he has at hand the solution that will bring peace. As ambassadors from God, we are called to reconcile men to God, first through creating an understanding of their need for such.

So, how does acquiring knowledge about the Bible differ from meditating on the Scripture? The difference is in the word "understanding”. Understanding the mind of God; understanding the problem with man; understanding the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to change everything and anything, and finally, understanding where faithful Christians can be the peacemakers that the world so desperately needs.

So, I ask: do you know without understanding? Are you a person who has great knowledge but prayer and meditating is not something you count as important in your spiritual journey? I like to use the term, “cardboard” to describe Christians who portray a form of spirituality but lack the substance to help others when times get tough. And if you are a “cardboard Christian, the best that you can produce is another one like yourself. Again, that's something to think seriously about. Before we can understand what following Jesus means, we must begin right in our understanding of the pure milk of God's word so that we may grow and produce growing Christians as well.