And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:1
During a recent browse through an interesting – and excellent – Web site, I clicked on the link to resources for children. There I found a large number of Bible stories for children. Those who had prepared these stories had taken the words of the Bible and simplified them. Nothing was added or taken away from Scripture; the stories were simply placed in language that young children could understand and read for themselves. Very few words had more than one syllable, and all sentence structure was simple and straightforward. The purpose was to make the Word easy for young minds to grasp and appreciate. The apostle Paul must have felt like he was doing the same thing when he was addressing the Corinthians about spiritual matters. They were immature spiritually, and could not grasp deep truths. Can we?
The late Albert Ramsay was often referred to as the kindergarten teacher. His ministry messages often dealt with basic and fundamental truths of Scripture, and his purpose was to instill these truths into the Lord’s people. With a good foundation of the basics, his hearers could build and grow into mature and vibrant students of the Word, able to handle the meat of the Word as well as the milk. Paul undoubtedly did the same at Corinth, but his hearers did not grow. They failed to advance beyond the kindergarten class and into the upper levels of learning. As Paul reminded them in the next verse, he had to keep feeding them with milk, because they were unable to handle the meat. God never intends for us to exist on a diet of spiritual milk and pablum all our lives. He has a rich feast of good spiritual food for us, and He longs that we might have an appetite for it.
How Paul wished he might be able to unfold the deep things of God to the Corinthians! Sadly, he could not. What about those who minister the Word to us today? Are they able to unfold the treasures they have mined from the Book? Do they find graduates from the kindergarten class who have a desire for a spiritually mature diet? Are we able to grasp doctrinal truths that explore the person of Christ, the purpose of God’s Assembly, the power of a Spirit-filled life, and the panorama of God’s purposes through the ages? There is so much for us to appreciate in the Word, if we will pursue it.
What is on your spiritual table today? Is there some substantial morsel of meat that will challenge your heart and provide you with nourishment to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? -Jim MacIntosh