Observation: The first letter of Peter tells its early Christian readers to go back to basics. Leave all the gossip and politics behind, and like infants, long for the "pure spiritual milk" of Jesus' teachings. Love your enemies. Forgive as God forgives you. Do justice. It's not complicated, but it does require a constant reminder that we can no more do it ourselves than a baby could dance a tango.
Application: I think my problem is twofold. I want to "grow up" in faith, to feel I've made "progress", to be an advanced "master" of this thing called discipleship. After all, I have this funny little framed piece of parchment in a basement box somewhere that says "Master of Divinity"...maybe the most ironic name for a degree ever.
But on the other hand, when I do face faith challenges, when I feel God is asking me to do a new and possibly difficult thing, I want to play dumb. I want to plead ignorance, go back to the Padawan stage, and have someone break out the felt Bible story board and the graham crackers and juice. When the spiritual going gets tough, I don't want to "adult" anymore.
Maybe that's an immature instinct. Or maybe...maybe it indicates a deeper spiritual need that I should pay attention to. Above is a picture of my 14-month old, Ezra. Ezra is absolutely loving the baby experience. In fact, he loves it so much that he's in no hurry to jump into the world of solid foods. Nursing is a pretty good deal for him right now. And considering the world that awaits him as he inevitably grows up, I don't blame him a bit. His mom and I still patiently set solid foods before him thrice daily, knowing that his interest and ability will grow as time passes. But at this stage, he doesn't ever have to worry about where nourishment comes from. You can see in the photo he's doing just fine.
The irony I'm discovering is that the more God asks of us, the more we need to return to the basics of spiritual infancy. When the world is attacking and our shields are barely holding, we probably won't fall back on the latest work of theological ethics on our shelves. More likely it'll be the simple truth we learned as infants: Jesus loves me, this I know. In a way, to grow is to regress. To be wise is to know you know nothing. To be strong is to be vulnerable and weak for the sake of Christ.
Prayer: Jesus, help me remember I am a infant in your arms, that I may grow to follow where you lead. Amen.
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