Spoon Feeding

Do you ever watch a mother feeding her baby solid food?
She patiently puts the pureed mixture on the spoon.
She ever so carefully touches the lip and the baby automatically opens his mouth.

If it is sweet, like certain fruits, there will be a smile…licking lips…flailing arms.
If it is bland, like certain vegetables, there will be a slight grimace…and locked lips.

The mom is doing all the work.
She becomes very creative after a while…talking…singing…anything to distract.
Bland things aren’t swallowed very easily.
Sweet things…go down fast and easy…the baby just can’t seem to get enough of them.

Adults are no different.
We all have our food and entertainment preferences.
The sweet things, though not always good for us, are extremely palatable.
The bland things are a bit boring…we usually spice them up with a bit of seasoning.

We like to be spoon fed.
We don’t like to feed ourselves.
We have become a society of learners…not thinkers.
Someone else is doing the work for us.

People in the ubiquitous white coats speak with self-proclaimed authority.
They are sometimes experts in their field, but more often than not, they are celebrities.
Celebrities with their causes…their opinions…their voice.
They absolutely have the right to speak…and share their views.
We, however, must listen with Godly discernment.

Spoon feed a child their whole lives and they will never know how to eat on their own.
Spoon feed information to an adult and they will never know how to think for themselves.

That is a huge problem.
A child does not have a say in what food is on their spoon.
They just open their mouth and swallow it.

An adult, on the other hand, has a mind…and can reason.
Faced with a smorgasbord of choices, Godly wisdom will discern what is True.

Jesus was before Pilate because the Jews were bringing charges against Him.
The Jews charged Jesus with sedition against Rome, which was a capital offense.
The Jews did not have the right to execute anyone…so Pilate’s authority was necessary.

Pilate found no basis for a charge against Jesus…but the people were adamant.

Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.”
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. (John 18:36-38)

Pilate never waited for an answer.
He left Jesus and went back out to the Jews.
He listened to the voice of the crowd rather than the voice of Truth that stood before him.

We do the same.
We debate and argue.
We are opinionated and tunnel-visioned.
We listen to the voices of the so-called experts…but dismiss the Truth that is before us.

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land, not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine for hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” (Amos 8:11,12)

Hunger for God’s Word.

We feast on all the wrong things.
We open our mouths and are spoon fed Turkish delight.
That was Edmund Pevensie’s favorite food, offered to him by the White Witch in Narnia.
Edmund had an insatiable desire for the sweet tasting food.
Even when the Turkish Delight made him sick, he still desired it.

When we are spoon fed, we are dependent on the one holding the spoon.
The one with the spoon has control…and can feed us whatever they choose.

Only One food will truly satisfy us.
Only One Hand has the Authority to hold the spoon.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But My people would not listen to Me; Israel would not submit to Me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If My people would but listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. (Psalm 81:10-16)

We have Truth at our fingertips.
Instead, we choose the flavor of the day!
That daily special will never satisfy.

We go to other sources instead of going first to the One who is Sovereign and in control.

Can you see us…smiling…licking lips…flailing arms?
Feed me!
Turkish delight will never satisfy.
It will only increase our appetites for things that are palatable…but deficient.

Feed on the Word of God…the only food that satisfies.