I am not sure what age my parents took my bottle away, but I do know that I was old enough to understand that it was time for me to give it up. I remember wanting a pool, and my father told me that I could have the pool if I threw the bottle away. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I put the bottle in the trash and found it back on the counter a little while later. Perhaps my parents knew that I would not adjust well, or perhaps they didn’t want to find out what it would look like for me to go through that transition in that moment in time. To make a long story short, I continued to use that bottle after I threw it away, and I never got that pool that I wanted.
Growing up never excited me, and I suffered for many
years because of it. There were times that I thought that I was big enough to be ‘grown',
but mistakes and the need of my mom pulled me right back down into reality. As I continued to get older, many intersections that I faced placed me in a position to 'throw the bottle away' because of what I thought I could handle, but I found
myself taking it out of the trash again because life got real, and I needed the
soothing comfort of what I was used to.
Milk is given to babies to help nourish their bodies until they have the ability to chew meat. The baby is weaned off of milk and meat is slowly introduced in its place. Some babies are even excited once they eat their first chicken nugget and begin to prefer it over time over that of having just milk alone. How glorious it would be if many of us were excited to grow in this way spiritually.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary 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 not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5: 12-14 NASB).
There is a great demand for the Christian to became
weaned from milk and eat the meat that God is presenting to us. Gone are the excuses
for the childish mistakes that we knew better than to make. God has trained us to
have great discernment of right and wrong, and for those who are seasoned in
Him, we have to act like it.
To taste and see that God is good, you actually have
to taste and see that He is good. God has way more to offer to your spiritual palate
in the coming years if you choose to chew through the discomfort of the
feelings that can be associated with growing up.
2023 is the yes year for the Christian. Don’t miss out
on this window because you find milk to be more appeasing to your comfort level
of obedience.
And by the way, God has way more in store for you than
anything that the pool that I wanted could ever hold. You have grown past that bottle.
You have spiritual teeth now, Christian. EAT THE MEAT!!
Lord in Jesus name, thank you for giving me the
nutrients that I need in You. You have
never left me in a place of hunger or thirst, and I accept the plate that you
are putting in front of me. May I eat everything on it because you prepared it
in love. This plate may have some things that I have never tried, but I trust
you. Thank you for the grace to grow up in you. In Jesus name, Amen.
*Your plate may have new experiences and talents on it.
Don’t allow your comfort zone to reject your blessing to grow up in God.
Very good!
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