[When available, audio recordings of these devotions are posted at http://www.redeemerclc.info/audio-devotions]
1 Corinthians 3:1-2 "I ... could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it."
FEED ON THE BREAD OF LIFE
When a baby is born, you cannot expect that baby to eat solid food. Even if the baby could chew the food, it would not be able to digest it. The baby starts with milk and moves up the food chain to mashed fruits and vegetables, pureed meats, then finally, to solid food. Scripture uses this physical growth process to describe the spiritual growth process of the believer as well. At your baptism you were born into the faith. Christ says that, "...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Through the washing of water and the Word you became children of God, with a simple love for Christ your Savior.
After your baptism, your parents and pastors and teachers fed your faith. Paul tells the Corinthian believers that, when he first came to them he, "...could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). Beginning with Bible stories at home and moving on to Sunday School, you were taught about sin and grace. You were taught that God loves us so that He sent the Baby Jesus in the manger. You were content to know that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sin. You learned that Jesus rose from the dead after He died on the cross so that we too can go to heaven. You demanded no proof of the truth. You believed it because Mom and Dad shared God's Word with you. You prayed with Mom and Dad, learned the Lord's Prayer, and learned that God loves us and wants to help us. You learned of God's love and responded in kind, even as the Scriptures tell us, "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). This is the milk of the Word which is received by the childlike faith of which Christ speaks when He tells His disciples that, "...whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will by no means enter it" (Luke 18:17).
No matter your age, you are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Nourish that faith.
He that believes and is baptized
Shall see the Lord's salvation;
Baptized into the death of Christ,
He is a new creation.
Through Christ's redemption he shall stand
Among the glorious heavenly band
Of every tribe and nation.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 301:1)
