Milk to Meat: The Next Door of Opportunity
The rate at which infants mature is astonishing. From the womb, they grow larger and develop further by the day! Growth is magnified after birth in the early weeks and months of life, accelerating by the year!
It’s evident: we are meant to grow. And not just physically.
Scripture likens the miracle of salvation to the miracle of birth. Jesus insists that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Thankfully, He isn’t suggesting we “enter a second time into [our] mother’s womb and be born,” but instead be “born of water and the Spirit,” since “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (4-6).
To belong to God, we must die to our carnal nature and be resurrected into His divine one.
“We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life … So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
– Romans 6:4, 11
When we renounce ourselves and our sins, we become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), considered babes in faith (1 Corinthians 3:1). Paul fed such believers “with milk, not solid food, for [they] were not ready for it” (2).
Like our own infancy, we begin the Christian life with basic nutrients: truths found in the Word of God. We’re sustained by increasing measures of teaching until introduced to deeper mysteries. We start to crave that solid diet for nourishment and pleasure.
Peter uses the same language.
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
– 1 Peter 2:2-3
John delineates these stages of growth:
“I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.”
– 1 John 2:12-14
Proper development unfolds by the Holy Spirit when we faithfully feed ourselves Scripture.
God’s Provision: God’s Word is the sanctifying tool sculpting our lives (John 17:17). Those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness … shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
Word of the Week: Sufficient. Scripture contains everything needed for “life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) and is “profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Abby
One of my favorite theologians is Charles Spurgeon. Of all his intellectual observations and spiritual insights, one lighthearted yet profound statement taps my conscience.
“Learn to say no. It will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin.”
While the reference might be outdated for today’s context, the concept is not. Saying no is more useful than cooking on the grill or knowing five languages or having a driver’s license.
That’s because I’m one person and I can only be in one place at a time. It’s also necessary because I’m called to serve God above man.
When speaking of oaths in Matthew 5, Jesus taught, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (37). This simply tells me there is a time and place to say no in a godly way.
Of course we say no to temptation and trespass.
“Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the LORD loves justice; He will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”
– Psalm 37:27-29
“Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
– Romans 12:9
Nevertheless, within the realm of righteousness there are countless opportunities to do good and pursue godliness. We can please God in hundreds, if not thousands, of ways. And we certainly can’t do so in all the ways, although some of us might try.
The typical result is “burning the candle at both ends,” as my father has repeatedly warned. Saying yes to everything all the time wears me out and makes me less useful.
Something’s got to give.
All my life, I’ve wrestled with that one little word. “No” to me meant missing out, letting down, falling short.
I didn’t understand that saying no is actually saying yes. Because saying no to one thing is saying yes to something else. Being selective about my yes’s gives me the capacity to be fully invested. When I don’t say no, I quickly get stretched too thin.
So I’m starting with little no’s because the big ones tear me up too much. When I don’t have a choice, the Lord helps me find peace in His purpose and placement for me.
I find great solace in the fact that Jesus also said no. He denied the religious leaders a sign, redirected a man who begged to come with him, and refused to come down from the cross. But He always said yes to His Father God.
And I too can be content to “live quietly, mind [my] own affairs, and work with [my] hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11)—the unpretentious, uncluttered life of a servant who desires to be faithful.
God’s Provision: God alone can multiply the work of my hands for His glory.
Word of the Week: No. Pretty self-explanatory, I guess!
Abby
They come in the package with the purchased item, slid along the edge or crinkled at the bottom. Some are one sheet, others a booklet.
Instructions are written as guides … which usually prove more confusing and scarcely decipherable, enough to make you throw your hands and exclaim, “This is no help whatsoever!” I sometimes wonder why instructions are included at all.
And then I realize I’m in the same predicament. My sinful flesh serves no purpose—except to destroy me.
Jesus says in John 6:63,
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
My Savior came to liberate me from the evil to which I was subject. Now my previous life no longer has a place in the new.
“We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
– Romans 6:6
Ephesians 4:17-24 explains it in more detail.
“You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
I cannot consult the flesh and expect godly inclination. All I will get is selfish, sensual compulsion that opposes the Lord. The contrast is stark.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” … “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
– John 3:6, Romans 8:5-8
God’s Provision: But the Father doesn’t leave a searching soul unanswered. He delightfully instills truth and teaches wisdom (Psalm 51:6).
Word of the Week: Renewal. Hope is found in transformation via “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
Abby
Many of us are happy to help those we love. We wipe counters, wash cars, cook meals. But how often do we consider throwing ourselves under the bus on behalf of somebody else?
Volunteering to take the heat for something I didn’t do isn’t exactly an appealing invitation. Why then did God’s only Son willingly do just that for depraved sinners?
As Romans 5:7-8 points out,
“One will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
To do something for another is a gracious act. To do something in place of another is an act of grace.
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.”
– Romans 3:22-25
Christ did nothing to deserve the wrath He endured. It was for my sins, and yours, that He suffered.
“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:21
And so it was, as Isaiah prophesied:
“They made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth … He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
– 53:9, 12
Devastating, yet necessary, was His sacrifice for us.
“He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
– 5-6
He died for our sake, that we may live for His.
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Ultimately, this life-altering, earth-shattering display of love is “for the praise of His glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6), which He receives unendingly for all eternity.
God’s Provision: Jesus, Anointed Christ and Messiah Savior! The only name under heaven among men by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).
Word of the Week: Substitution. The only way to placate God’s wrath and restore us to holiness. Christ in our place.
Abby
We called him the Ransom Bunny. Every year, my grandparents hosted Easter, sending the grandkids on an extravagant hunt for plastic eggs filled with candy and coins, wedged into tree branches and stuffed beneath flowers around the yard. That year also featured the softest, cutest stuffed bunnies one could buy.
I couldn’t have been more than four or five years old, enough to make a tragedy out of the fact that I neglected to take my bunny home with me when we left. My clever uncle took it instead and offered it up as ransom, in exchange for my Easter candy. The joke was published in our family newsletter, forever printed in history.
I have no memory of what happened to that bunny … But I know another ransom story that also took place on Easter.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.”
– Titus 2:11-14
Galatians says God sent His Son “when the fullness of time had come … to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (4:4-5).
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
– Romans 5:6
In Jesus’ own words,
“Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
– Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45
A price has been paid, an exchange made.
“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:21
Christ purchased sinners, who had sold themselves as slaves to sin, back to God.
“ … you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
– 1 Peter 1:18-19
And so, eternity will sing of the Savior’s majesty!
“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
– Revelation 5:9-10
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”
– 1 Timothy 2:5-6
God’s Provision: The Lamb of God Himself!
Abby
We regularly have mediocre encounters with passersby, acquaintances, even familiar loved ones. Occasionally though, we experience profound, wholehearted, lifegiving interactions. What makes the difference?
It began long before our beginning.
Triune God had existed eternally in unity. The sweet fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit created humanity in His likeness, allowing human beings to converse and coexist with God in holiness.
Sin abruptly corrupted this communion. One rebellious act birthed a torrent of fleshly lusts and malicious passions that corrode creation. The only way to restore relationship with the Creator is to pay sin’s price—the sacrifice of a perfect man.
“Indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ … if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
– 1 John 1:3, 7
The church has since been equipped and commissioned. Acts tells us “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching … fellowship … breaking bread … and prayers” (2:42). Furthermore, “those who believed were of one heart and soul, and … they had everything in common” (4:32).
We share physical resources and possessions because we are recipients of spiritual ones.
“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
– Ephesians 4:4-6
The image of a body describes our ministry to one another and others.
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”
– 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
We participate together (1 Corinthians 10:16), knit together in love (Colossians 2:2). We love (John 13:34), serve (Galatians 5:13), forgive (Ephesians 4:32), teach (Colossians 3:16), and encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We live in harmony with (Romans 12:16), honor (12:10), bear the burdens of (Galatians 6:2), offer hospitality to (1 Peter 4:9), confess our sins to (James 5:16), submit to (Ephesians 5:21), and pray for, one another (6:18).
Christ advocates oneness (John 17:21); the Spirit accomplishes it (1 John 3:24).
It delights God, and us, when we join in Spirit-inspired, God-ordained fellowship!
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”
– Psalm 133:1
God’s Provision: He is there with us!
So,
“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
– Hebrews 10:24-25
Word of the Week: Benediction. Closing blessing.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
– 2 Corinthians 13:14
Abby
We go from being scared of the dark, to terrified of not fitting in, to paranoid of the future as we progress through life’s stages. Fear is an ever-present nemesis.
I remember being frightened by a Junior Asparagus toy I had that glowed and sang about not being afraid. How ironic!
God knows we are faint-hearted folk. He takes note of our trembling hands and quaking knees, reaffirming His steadiness.
The Bible is packed with promises of God’s sufficiency in our deficiency. I’ve heard there are three hundred sixty-five messages addressing fearfulness in the Bible … One for every day of the year, although I’ve never counted to be sure.
Jesus kept the momentum going during His earthly ministry. “Take heart,” He would say, “Do not be afraid.”
When four men lowered their paralytic friend through a roof to present him to Jesus, He received their faith and honored their humility. “Take heart” (Matthew 9:2).
When a suffering woman was exhausted of funds and tired of bleeding after twelve years, she stretched out her hand to be changed by Jesus’ power and compassion. “Take heart” (Matthew 9:22).
When wind howled against the disciples’ boat and they thought the approaching Jesus was a ghost, His voice pierced through (Matthew 14:26-27). “Take heart” (Mark 6:50).
When the twelve fretted over the future and misunderstood Jesus’ teaching, He directed and eased them. “Take heart” (John 16:33).
His calm, persistent reminders echo God’s age-old promises.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
– Isaiah 41:10
“Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”
– Haggai 2:4-5
“And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”
– Zechariah 8:13
God’s Provision: In times of battle, hardship, disaster, sinfulness, and uncertainty, to name only a few, God inserted His goodness into our distress. His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
– Psalm 46:1-3
Word of the Week: Healed. Because of this, we can be restored—in strength, spirit, and faith. Hebrews 12:12-13 calls us to! “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”
Abby
Your phone needs updated, your clothes are out of style, your technology is outdated, your house is getting too small … Before you know it, you’re buying into the next trend, latest model, and best bargain. It’s easy to do.
This sinful world system insists: what we have is not enough. We need more to be happy, healthy, and successful—a tempting pitch, but terribly misaligned with God’s Word. He demands a higher standard and promises a greater reward.
“Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
– 1 Timothy 6:6-8
“Those who desire to be rich,” though, fall into temptation’s snare, following “senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction … Love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (9-10).
Instead of purchasing our way into the prison of discontentment, filling our storehouses with empty pursuits, God asks us to trust Him.
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
– 17-19
“Less” is more. In fact, we have all we could possibly need to live and serve Him!
God’s Provision:
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.”
– 2 Peter 1:3
We must heed Hebrews 13:5: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”
… even finding contentment in “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Corinthians 12:10), because God’s power is perfected in human weakness (9).
The apostle Paul writes for us to consider his experiences:
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”
– Philippians 4:11-12
Word of the Week: Dependence. On God, not ourselves, who provides spiritual riches, even if earthly ones never come.
Proverbs 22 proves true.
“The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the Maker of them all … The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.”
– 2, 4
Abby
The words you speak, decisions you make, and actions you take paint a picture of what’s important to you. From hobbies to habits, purchases to priorities, the details of our lives reveal the conditions of our hearts.
The Bible talks a lot about this, and I have been especially mindful of it recently.
Jesus preached repeatedly on money and possessions, transcending the physical to unpack spiritual issues of the heart.
One of His sermons is recorded in Matthew.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
– 6:19-21
He goes on.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
– 24
Inevitably, I get bogged down in earthy matters of little importance at the cost of spiritual riches and heavenly treasure. How easy it is to be choked out, as Jesus illustrated in a parable.
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed … seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain … They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
– Mark 4:3-4, 7, 18-19
John warns of this trap as well.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
– 1 John 2:15-17
The world opposes God, just like the flesh opposes the Spirit (Galatians 5:17).
James confirms, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (4:4).
What I find in these Scriptures are warnings to my heart against temptation toward the trivial and temporal. I must fix my eyes heavenward.
Word of the Week: Gaze. Where I look, in that direction I will go. Colossians 3:2 calls us to action: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Why?
God’s Provision: “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
And that is our reward.
Abby
When the best of what you have to offer does not suffice, you must look outside yourself for what you need. Whether that is running to the store for ingredients, finding a tutor for your child, or soliciting help at work, you are forced to maximize resources to compensate for inadequacy.
I have been a lifelong “perfectionist.” Seriously, I was lining up my stuffed animals in size order at two years old! So naturally, it has to be a deliberate effort for me to lay aside my pursuit of righteousness for the cross of Christ.
Since my toddler years, the gospel has been prayed and preached over my life: only by the grace of God are we saved, through faith in the work and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
– Ephesians 2:8
“Not a result of works,” it goes on to say, “so that no one may boast” (9). Every moment of every day I must decide to place my faith in the holy perfection of my Savior, who “loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Indeed,
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”
– 1 John 4:9
Still, I have this tendency to work hard, chase godliness, and equate my worth with my performance. Maybe you can relate. Two of those things are good when done properly; I’m sure you know which one isn’t.
God didn’t create us to follow rules; He designed us to fellowship. With Him.
There are commandments and statutes, and they have been from the beginning (Genesis 2:17) — always instituted, implemented, and enforced for God’s glory and our wellbeing. Deuteronomy 28 lays out “all these blessings” that will “come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
Guidelines in the garden gave way to decrees in the desert because humanity sinned. Nevertheless, the Law cannot make us right — only magnify our wrong.
“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
– Romans 3:20
But there is hope! God’s Provision:
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
– Romans 5:20-21
Word of the Week: Propitiation. Atonement for iniquity paid by Christ on the cross when He once for all vanquished sin and conquered death (Hebrews 7:27, 10:10, 12). Proof of God’s love (1 John 4:10) and our salvation (Romans 3:24-25).
Truly, all my own human efforts toward goodness and godliness are “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8), as a “polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6), to be trashed in order to gain the treasure of Christ.
Abby