DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 5 May 2024
TOPIC: Milk for Babes
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (KJV)
3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
KEY VERSE
“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”
1 Corinthians 3:2
DCLM Daily Manna Sunday 5 May 2024 MESSAGE
Nature allows a period of breastfeeding for newborns. The rich milk produced in the system of the mother and passed on to the baby is what grows the infant, strengthens its organs and body, and prepares it gradually for steady thirst and capacity for stronger stuff. But after some time, the child must drop the liquid for a higher grade of nutritional feeding. All dutiful mothers look forward to the day of such a break from breastfeeding.
Apostle Paul could not but discern the Corinthian church that they had not cut themselves off spiritually from the food for toddlers. They were still dabbling in practices that gave them away as deficient in the mentality of those ready to receive more enriching teachings of Christ. There were divisions over petty issues. They envied one another. They were no longer followers of Christ but of human personalities. In a word, they were carnal; a condition that left them as spiritual babies.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Friday 3 May 2024 – Sin’s Trajectory
It troubles preachers of God’s word to discover that their converts remain in the same spot after years of labour in feeding them with what should mature them to higher scriptural planes. The Lord is not happy either when the children of the Kingdom descend to the level where they manifest their old nature. His wish is that we should deepen our salvation through more understanding of His word so we can move from being disciples to disciples.
The Christian life is not static. As long as we have life, we must keep growing and developing. To stay healthy and grow to our fullest potential, we must constantly feed on appropriate meals. Spiritual maturity makes us fit for the divine service of winning souls and nursing them to maturity.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Spiritual maturity is not a function of age or years spent in church.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 17-18
