BABY FOOD

Baby Food
In the same way that soft food and soft living make us physically weak, a diet of overly refined and fiberless spiritual pablum produces a church full of weak, imature invalids. Doctors are constantly reminding us that to be healthy, we must have sufficient balance in our diets. This also applies to our spiritual diet. Unfortunately, many Christians have been gumming baby mush for so long that they are offended by real food. "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrews 5:12-14, NKJV.

The devil wants to soothe our conscience to sleep, lest we should awake to our sences and turn from our sins. He is afraid that we will discover how lethal sin really is and then start looking for a Saviour! Paul puts it this way: "That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Romans 7:13.

As we near the end of the world and see the return of Jesus, now is not the time to proclaim smooth things. Every gospel presentation should be saturated with a sense of power and urgency. Isaiah 58:1 admonishes, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."

Yet Jesus has told us that one of the signs of the end is that the church will be softly singing Satan's lying lullaby, "Rest in peace, in your sins." In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, God says that "when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail [labor pains] upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." I used to believe that this Scripture was speaking only of the world, but now I know that Paul was also warning us of conditions within the church!

In an effort to "give the people what they want," many churches provide bazaars, bingo, and soothing drama programs but do not preach salvation from sin. Their sermons are like a saw with no teeth. The sharp sword of God's Word is being replaced with a rubber-coated baby spoon! It's no wonder that people leave such worship services feeling like they have been feasting on cotton candy. It was sweet to eat, but afterward everyone walks away sticky and nauseated.

Several years ago, a man living in China bought a microscope. At first he was thrilled with his new acquisition and marveled as he looked at the wonders of flowers and feathers magnified hundreds of times. But one day he made the mistake of looking at his rice under the microscope and saw that it was crawling with tiny creatures. Rice was his favorite food. Very disturbed, the man smashed his microscope with a rock. It had revealed that his rice had bugs, and he didn't want to give up his beloved food.

We are all faced with a similar challenge. We can either place ourselves under the scrutiny of God's Word and allow Him to boil away the bugs, or else we can turn the microscope of His law out of focus in order to blur our character defects. Those who choose the truth of God over the fancy fables of false prophets will follow the advice found in Scripture: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." 2 Corinthians 13:5.

May our sincere prayer be like that of David, who said, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23, 24.
-Raven Midwest