Milestones

     You may look at this picture and wonder what it is or you may think it is an odd picture to put on my blog. This picture represents a milestone in my life.  For the first time in 7 years I no longer have a changing table in my home.  This dresser/changing table combination was purchased for us by my parents before Spencer was born and he will be 7 next month.  The Lord has shown us that Trenton is to be our last and he is now potty trained so we don't need the changing pad any more - a bittersweet day. 
     As I thought about the fact that my children are growing up and I no longer have any babies in our home, it really got me thinking about our Christian life.  When we become a christian we are called babes in Christ  1Peter 2:2 says "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: "  When I looked this verse up the part that caught my attention was "that ye may grow".  We would be very concerned about our children if as a baby they didn't gain weight, grow, or develop properly.  But what about our spiritual "body"?  Am I really growing?  Do I desire to grow? Then I started thinking, how do I grow? A baby needs milk, and our milk is God's Word.  Reading and studying the Bible, and going to a Bible preaching church can all feed us.  At first as I thought about it, I thought oh yes I do all those things.  Then, I got to thinking am I eating more today than I did a year ago.  As a baby grows they go from just milk to mashed foods to solid foods.  Have I progressed in my "eating"?  Our church gets a monthly devotional book that is based on the King James Bible and it is a very good one, but lately I have caught myself just reading that small passage and story.  The Lord has convicted me to REALLY study more.  As we want our children to grow and keep growing, we also need to continue growing spiritually.  We would be concerned if suddenly our children lost some of the skills they have and regress.  Yet, as Christians we allow ourselves to regress.  I once heard a description of what it means to be a backslider. The pastor said "If you have ever been closer to God than you are today then you are backslidden."  I got to thinking about that last night and it really convicted my heart to get in His Word more and draw closer to Him than I was yesterday. 
     I think this blog is going be a mixture of my thoughts and what God is teaching me.  My prayer is that others will be encouraged by the things the Lord lays on my heart to write.