Morning and Evening
Morning, October 19
Babes in Christ. – 1 Cor 3:1
Are you feeling discouraged, believer, because your spiritual life seems weak—because your faith is so small and your love so faint? Take heart! You have plenty of reasons to be thankful. Remember that in some key ways, you are just as blessed as the greatest and most mature Christian. You were bought with the same precious blood of Christ as they were. You are just as much an adopted child of God as any other believer. Just as an infant is fully a child of its parents, so too are you fully a child of God. You are just as completely justified, for justification isn’t something that happens in degrees—your faith, even if it is small, has made you fully justified. You have the same right to the promises of the covenant as the most advanced believers, for your right is based not on your level of spiritual growth but on the covenant itself. Your faith in Jesus is not the measure of your inheritance; it is the sign of it. You are as rich as the richest, even if you don’t fully enjoy it yet—your riches are real and eternal.
Even the smallest star shines in the heavens, and the faintest ray of light is connected to the great sun. In the book of life, the names of the small and the great are written with the same hand. You are just as dear to your Father’s heart as the most eminent saint. Jesus cares for you tenderly. Though you may feel like smoldering flax, He will not snuff you out. Though you may feel like a bruised reed, He will not break you. Others may see no use in you, but Jesus cherishes you.
Instead of feeling defeated by your weakness, rejoice in Christ. You may be small in the eyes of men, but in Christ, you are seated in heavenly places. You may feel poor in faith, but in Jesus, you are an heir to everything. If there is even the root of faith in you, rejoice in the Lord and glory in the God of your salvation!
