Saying Good-Bye to the Binky!

   I have heard from many different mothers throughout the years how difficult it is for them to get their babies to say "bye-bye" to their binky's. And yet, as Christians, the Bible is quite clear that we have our own personal binky that God calls us to give up to Him as well.
   In fact, this past Sunday we were going through a passage of Scripture from 1 John 2, that brings us this very point. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 2:12-14; “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.”

   An interesting aspect about this passage of Scripture is that many scholars have alluded to the fact that when John refers to his readers as little children (2:12), young men (2:14), and fathers (2:13), he is pointing out the progressive stages of our spiritual growth as Christians.

   In fact as little children, or newborns in the faith, the Bible tells us that in order to grow, “as newborn babes, [we must] desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). As young men, or growing Christians, we are called to move on to solid food. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby” (Hebrews 5:12-13). We see that Scripture clearly shows that we are called to mature from little children (or babies) in the faith, to young men in the faith, to fathers of the faith. That is what John is telling us here in 1 John 2:12-14.

   How silly and out of place would it look if you who are fathers were still wearing diapers, using a binky, and carried around your milk bottle and your bah-bah everywhere you went? How ridiculous would it be if your wives used a baby stroller to guide you into church each Sunday, and sat with you in the cry room? That would be nuts! That would be shameful! That would be really, really weird! 

   In fact, if that took place I could guarantee you that you would probably lose your right to be a parent, because our culture demands that parents grow up and take responsibility for their role in society. It is no different for us as Christians, the word of God demands that we mature as believers and move from having an infant’s faith, to a young man’s faith, and as young men in the faith we continue to mature throughout our lives until we finally become father’s of the faith.
   And so for some of you who may be reading this article and thinking to yourself about the fact that you have not experienced any noticeable growth in your Christian faith, then now is the time to give up your binky to God, and begin leaving behind the baby milk, and your binky-faith, and begin desiring the solid food of God's word, so that He may grow and mature you as a man or woman of God.