Ezra is army crawling and he made his first full hands and knees attempts last week. In the meantime, he’s pulling up on anything he can reach. Timothy took his first tentative steps over the weekend while playing ball with his dad and big brother, Thomas. These second-born boys are highly motivated by their older sibling’s constant motion and their development seems accelerated. They’re watching, learning, and doing at a dizzying pace. With the firstborns, we watched in anticipation for each milestone. Now it’s hard to believe how they’ve all grown.
Sometimes birth trauma or premature labor among other things can mean a child arrives ill equipped to receive proper nourishment for growth.
“A child is said to have failure to thrive when they don’t meet recognized standards of growth. Failure to thrive isn’t a disease or disorder. Rather, it describes a situation in which a child is undernourished. They either don’t receive or are unable to process enough calories.” (M.Selner, 7/25/2012, healthline.com)
My girls were reminiscing recently about the births of my grandchildren and the elder said to the younger, “You have big babies that grow into string beans and I have tiny babies that grow into chunks!” My own were either side of nine pounds at birth, the boys each coming a week early and weighing in at eight pounds, eleven ounces while our girl weighed nine pounds, four ounces two days past her due date. I’ve held six and seven pound babies and they always feel especially fragile.
Our third, Jacob Benjamin, gave us a bit of a scare at birth when he didn’t breathe right away. His father and I held our breath as we waited for that first cry. He came through the birth canal so quickly that suction was required to clear his airways, but soon he was crying lustily. Waiting for signs of life, watching for growth, measuring milestones is either a parent’s dream or a nightmare. When things progress as expected, we celebrate. If anything lags behind or lapses entirely, we have cause for concern. The same is true for baby believers.
“Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
1 Peter 2:2-3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.2.2-3.NLT
My daughter waited five days for her milk to come in with her firstborn. She was committed to nursing so her husband helped feed Thomas formula with a syringe while allowing him to suckle his fingertip. I remember what a relief it was when she was finally able to feed her son. She set a timer between feedings to be sure he was receiving adequate nutrition. She counted soiled diapers and took him several times to the pediatrician in those first weeks to monitor his growth. He’s an extremely healthy three and a half year old with a very healthy appetite now, and I regularly pray that he will continue to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, as Jesus grew, according to Luke 2:52.
Growing means more than just getting taller and stronger however. These two qualities have limits. At a certain height, sometimes sooner than we’d like, we stop sprouting. My mother always bemoans being plucked before she was ripe. She played basketball in high school. At five foot four, she learned to be an excellent ball handler as there was no way to grow any taller. Oftentimes disabilities or disease processes retard growth and development in some way, but how sad it is to see someone with every advantage who simply refuses to grow up.
We all begin as babes in our faith. We know enough of Jesus’s Godhood, of His death on our behalf and His resurrection, of grace and mercy in our time of need to place our faith in His name. We know He is the one way to God and eternal life. He is a sure foundation upon which to build our lives, and if we are wise, we quickly learn to abide in Christ. (John 15:5) We study to show ourselves approved, workers who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. (II Timothy 2:15)
“Then we will no longer be immature like children.
We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.
We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.
As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Ephesians 4:14-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.4.14-16.NLT
“This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.4.13.NLT
“Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right.”
Proverbs 20:11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.20.11.NLT
“So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again.
Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.
Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.
You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.”
Hebrews 6:1-3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.6.1-3.NLT
“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning.
He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.
The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored.
We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name.
After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself.
And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.”
Romans 8:29-30 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/rom.8.29-30.MSG
“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.
Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT
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