Cookies!
O how I love cookies! And there are so many different ways that you can make them: peanut butter, sugar, butter, chocolate chip, cream cheese, oatmeal raisin, and many more! Wouldn’t life be great if you could just sit around all day and eat cookies? But it wouldn’t be long before that lifestyle would start to catch up to you. Soon, you would suffer malnutrition by eating nothing but sugar and fat. What seems like a good idea on the surface doesn’t turn out to be so good in the long run. The body needs more than just cookies. It needs vitamins, minerals, and protein that come from vegetables and meat, but those things don’t taste nearly as good. Nevertheless, people need more than just cookies to have healthy lives.
The writer of the book of Hebrews says that this is true of our spiritual life also. Hebrews 5:13-14 says, “For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.” We need more than just the part of God’s word that makes us feel good. We must also wrestle with the parts that challenge us and are a struggle. Paul told Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). How does a congregation get to this point? They just eat cookies. Let’s determine to chew on some things that have more spiritual nutrition.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley