A
child is conceived and grows for nine months in the safety and comfort of his
mother’s body. When the child is born and we hold it for the very
first time, we marvel at God’s design. Life is perpetuated. Naturally,
we instinctively love that tiny little infant. So helpless. So
vulnerable. So dependent.
With
this in mind, you may be asking how I can say it is difficult to love a baby?
They are each so precious and so easy to love. Obviously I am not
talking about a tiny infant. I am talking about a spiritual “baby”.
I am talking about an immature Christian, one who seems to need
pampering a lot and requires almost constant attention. Who is a
spiritual baby and how we can avoid remaining a spiritual baby?
When a person hears the gospel (Romans
10:17), believes it
(Mark
16 :15-16),
repents of the sins in their life (Acts
17:30), confesses that Jesus is the Christ (
Romans
10:9-10), and is
baptized (Acts
2:38),
the new birth occurs.
In
John 3:3-7, Jesus talked to Nicodemus and
explained to him about the new birth:
Jesus
answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus
said to Him, “How can a man be born
when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be
born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say
to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom
of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “Do not
marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”
A
new life in Christ begins at baptism. Only then are we added to the
church we read about in the New Testament. Acts
2:47 states:
“Praising
God and having favor with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Remember
what Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 and
4:
“Assuredly,
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus
taught that we should be humble like little children.
There
are certain characteristics, however, that Jesus does not want us to emulate.
What are these?
Are we to be selfish like little children? Feed on baby food for a long
length of time? Insist on having our way or else we get mad? Pout till
others give in to us? Refuse to “play in someone else’s
yard” because they didn’t give us enough attention? Obviously these are
characteristics, typical in children, that Jesus does not want us to possess.
The
characteristics we are to emulate are honesty, forgiving easily, not being
selfish, and being obedient, just to name a few. These appear only when we
grow. Just as a physical baby will be healthy and continue to grow
as he should, a spiritual baby must grow also. A baby must be fed
regularly in order that he may grow.
;)