SPIRITUALLY
MALNOURISHED

Topics: Bible; Devotional Life; Maturity; Spiritual Growth; Teaching

References: 1 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:14; Hebrews 5:14

One spring, our family was driving from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida. As far as the eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit. When we stopped for breakfast, I ordered orange juice with my eggs. “I’m sorry,” the waitress said. “I can’t bring you orange juice. Our machine is broken.”

I was dumbfounded. We were surrounded by millions of oranges, and orange slices garnished our plates. We were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice, but we couldn’t have it because the restaurant was dependent on a machine to get it.

Christians are sometimes like that. They are surrounded by Bibles, but if they couldn’t get to a Sunday morning preaching service, they would have no nourishment for their souls. The problem is not a lack of spiritual food; it’s that many Christians haven’t grown enough to know how to get it for themselves.

—Leroy Eims, The Lost Art of Disciple Making (Zondervan, 1978)