We have all had our come-to-Jesus experiences.  Many of us came to faith in Jesus Christ as the result of some crisis in our lives.  We hit bottom and had nowhere else to turn.  We called out to God and He answered with the gift of His life in His Son.  He revealed Himself to us and now we know He is real, alive and sits on the throne.  We needed Him for what He could do for us, because He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.  We never stop needing him.

As newly born believers we needed milk.  We needed to be taken care of.  We were totally dependent upon our God and Savior.  A problem arises, though, when we stay babies.  We are expected to mature and desire solid food.

The writer of Hebrews exhorted believers saying, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14.

We need to grow up from that “give-me, give-me” relationship with Jesus to that place where our affections are upon Him and not just upon His gifts.

A narrative in John chapter 6 would sound unbelievable except it comes too close to home.  Get the picture!  Jesus had miraculously fed the multitude with the five barley loaves and two small fish.  Then, He walked on water.  Two rather miraculous events, wouldn’t you think?  Later, the crowd found Him on the other side of the sea and asked Him, “When did you come here?”

Jesus did not answer the question directly.  “You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”  In other words, as it has been said, “Seek His face and not His hand.”

Still they asked, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?”

What?! They just witnessed Him miraculously feeding the multitude and walking on water, and they still wanted Him to do something miraculous so they would believe.  They were acting like babies.  Jesus had already noted in John 4:48, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”

I have a question:  If we Christians always got what we asked from God, given our human nature, would there ever be a desire for Jesus alone?  Do we seek Him to rescue us from our daily problems?  Do we seek Him to insure our ticket to heaven when we die?  What then, if it appears He fails to deliver?

I believe one of the signs of spiritual maturity is this:  As babes, we seek Jesus for what He can do for us.  As mature sons, we come to desire Him alone.  Interestingly though, His gifts still follow Him.

May we grow up in all things into Christ as our desire for Jesus and Him alone increases day by day.