Mother's Milk

It started one lovely autumn morning as I was jogging. While my body was exercising, my imagination was on a platform, speaking to an audience. I didn't have any notes; I was just talking. And before I began speaking from my heart, I explained that I was like a nursing mother with her infant. I eat whatever I need, I process it, and whatever is in me comes out when I speak, and they could eat as much as they wanted. I had no diet plan (for them) and I hadn't exactly prepared a meal. They were going to get the processed version of whatever I had eaten, just as a nursing infant gets from his mother.

Without that being on my mind a bit, for the next couple of weeks the Lord in various ways was working in my thoughts and attitudes regarding the subject of growing from infancy to adulthood. It wasn't until last night, just as I was getting into bed, however, that it struck me.

Meat, or, as some translations more accurately state, 'solid food' is for the mature. Not necessarily adults, but definitely not for infants. Infants need breast milk.

Infants need nutrition that has previously been processed by someone else. They cannot hear from God for themselves; they don't know how. They are not able to glean nourishment from here and there and everywhere in their lives. In order to be fed, they must listen to sermons and read books. The more mature ones still do this sometimes, but infants must do it. Without that, they would spiritually die.

But throughout the various epistles we can see clearly that infancy is not intended to be forever. It is the Lord's desire that we each learn to hear His voice; that we no longer be dependent on the word of God as it comes through some other believer. In fact, the long-term goal that God has for each of us is that we all-regardless of our gender-eventually become nursing mothers. So far from wanting us to always be dependent on others for our spiritual nourishment, the Lord wants us to become so adept at receiving our food from Him (which does not preclude input from other teachers or writers, by any means) that we are actually able to process our own food and have something available for others who aren't yet able to gather their own food.

From my point of view, this is a ticklish scenario. Infants must be weaned, you know. Sometimes they must be weaned before they want to be weaned. Some are lazy and don't want to be responsible for feeding themselves. Others want to feed themselves before they are able; and still others are ready and able, but have a possessive mother who would much prefer to continue nursing them. I don't know the answer of when, but I do know that it isn't God's desire that we forever feed on milk.

He wants us to grow up.

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