The other day I was craving vegetables, so I cooked up some broccoli for myself. It was so delicious…While I was eating it I wanted to share it with somebody and Maisie was the only person around. I thought “I bet she would really like this.” So I fed her a bite of my broccoli. She had a hard time with this at only 4 weeks old…because she doesn’t have any teeth yet she couldn’t chew it. She had a hard time swallowing it because she doesn’t do any other whole food yet. Then who knows what it did as it cycled its way through her body…I thought, “It’s good for me so it should be good for her too!”
Ok…so I really didn’t feed her any broccoli! That is certainly for analogy purposes only…but if you were thinking…”Is he serious?” then you get the analogy.
It’s amazing to me how Maisie is perfectly capable of living entirely of off milk. She needs no meat, cheese, vegetables, or fruit. All of these can all be good for a person, but not for a baby. She needs one thing and one thing only: milk. From this, her little body gets all the nutrition it needs to grow at a rate that she will never grow at again in her life. This liquid gives her all the nutrients that she needs to help her bones to grow, her sight to come into focus, her muscle fiber to develop, her heart to beat…This is amazing to me.
I hesitate to draw my conclusions to any of my Babies & Spirituality posts as I think that we’ll all see something a bit different in them…so I’ll keep it short each time. Also, if you have something to add or saw this in a different way, please post it!
There is only one thing that a person needs when they begin (and finish) a relationship with God: To be connected to Jesus and stay close to Him. Many times as believers we want to (and should) share with others our convictions or what we find spiritually satisfying or fulfilling. Yet I think we need to give room for the reality that God works in different people at different times, in different ways, and at different paces…and He knows best. While broccoli may be good for me, it’s not for Maisie at this time in her life…I know I’ll be making her eat it one day though! Some questions or topics that are challenging and healthy for me may only prove to be a distraction or unhealthy to someone else. Even though each of us need spiritual nutrition God knows best as to who needs what kind and when. Even if we think that another person is appears to be getting a ridiculous amount of nourishment, if their lives don’t grow up, and produce works of the Spirit then they are only pretending. The ONLY proof we have that milk is truly what Maisie needs is that fact that she is growing. She’s already gained over two pounds and has grown 2.5 inches! The only proof that we can have as to how God is working in the life of another is the fruit that their life produces.
Love the analogy Justin, although I do have to admit that I was sort of freaking out to think about that broccoli in Maisie’s mouth!
I agree with your statement that only God knows when and how much nutrition we need. The other night at our small group (which is composed of several strong believers, and equally, if not more, of questioning or new believers) a dialogue started about belief. That wasn’t the direction the study had started, but it became evident that the Holy Spirit was doing some prompting in those questioning lives about faith, trust, etc. It was as though He took His hands and pulled all our thoughts toward the same focus, the same direction. And the floodgates of realization opened and it was powerful to His work, in His time! None of this was ‘planned’ according to our thoughts. Our lives consumed just a bit more to chew and grow on.
I look forward to your upcoming posts on Babies & Spirituality.