Faded Reflex
Theme of the Week: Work in Progress
Sunday, March 16, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk (1 Peter 2:2). Bonus Reading:Revelation 2:1-7
Caleb Bryant has already passed his first birthday but has yet to learn to eat and drink on his own. Because of a birth defect, he must be fed through a tube that connects to his stomach. His parents, Eric and Debbie, have discovered that while all healthy infants are born with an instinct to suckle and swallow, if they don't begin eating within the first three months, the reflex fades. Once the instinct is gone, they have to learn to eat and drink the same way they learn to walk and talk—by instruction.
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we're born again. We instinctively drink deeply of God and seek His kingdom. If we wait too long, the spiritual craving begins to fade. Discipleship moves from instinct to obligation. But when we capture the fuel placed within a heart that is newly God's, the fire spreads. Those with faded reflexes are renewed. When we catch the wind of a fresh follower of Christ, our sails go up and our speed increases. Allowing the Holy Spirit to soften our hearts and impassion us anew rekindles our first love.
—Erwin Raphael McManus in An Unstoppable Force
Adapted from An Unstoppable Force (Group Publishing, Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539, www.grouppublishing.com, 2001) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord, don't let me accept staying stunted; give me the desire to develop into a solid disciple.
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