Dig In

"Harper sure drinks a lot of milk, doesn't she?" said Layla one day as she watched her baby sister. "You'd think she'd get tired of it.""Maybe she does," replied Mom. "Shall I fix her a peanut butter sandwich or offer her an apple?""No!" Layla laughed at Mom's joke. "I just think milk all the time sounds boring, but I know Harper can't eat sandwiches or carrots or stuff like that. She isn't big enough yet. She doesn't have any teeth to chew with.""You're absolutely right." Mom smiled. "But before too long she'll be able to have soft foods, like cereal and mashed bananas.""But it'll be a long time before she can have hamburgers, won't it?" asked Layla."Yes, it will," said Mom. "She's got a lot of growing to do before she'll be big enough for that."Dad held up his roast beef sandwich. "Well, I'm glad I'm big enough to have this," he said with a grin. "But you know what, Layla? Just like human babies slowly grow big enough to eat different things, baby Christians do too.""Baby Christians?" asked Layla, looking puzzled.Dad nodded. "When a person first trusts Jesus as their Savior, they're like an infant. Older Christians have to help them understand the milk of God's Word--the easiest verses and stories. Then, as a new Christian grows spiritually, they need the meat of God's Word--the deeper truths of Scripture that are harder to understand."Layla thought for a moment. "What stage do you think I'm at?" she asked. "I don't think I'm at the milk stage anymore, but I'm probably not quite ready to start chewing the meat of the Bible either. I'm probably at the mashed banana stage, and that sounds pretty gross!" Layla wrinkled her nose.Dad laughed. "It's not gross at all--no matter what stage we're at, we need the spiritual nourishment of God's Word. As you learn more about Jesus and His promises in the Bible, the Holy Spirit will use the truth of God's Word to feed you spiritually and help you grow. So keep digging into God's Word and growing in the Lord." –Cathy L. Garnaat