Day 10 of Illumination: If you can’t handle the basic things of God, you won’t receive deeper things

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

For 15 years I had a wonderful little poodle named Addie Mae. Now Addie Mae had a good appetite. Sadly, Addie Mae had an extremely sensitive digestive system. Just to give you some idea of her sensitivity: once, one of my sons was eating

Chick-fil-A beside me in the front seat of the car. Addie Mae was in a carrier between us. Somehow, a small piece of the fried crust dropped into her carrier; and, of course, she quickly scarfed it up before it could be retrieved. Now, the crumb couldn’t have been bigger than the size of maybe a large Lima bean. But it was enough to send her into an episode of sickness that was very scary.

She would look at things we would be eating and it was sad to know she couldn’t even taste it. Now, I understand that you’re not supposed to feed dogs table food; but you know as well as I that folks like to sneak in a taste of something to their furry friends. But that certainly couldn’t be done. I even had to be very vigilant about what might drop on the floor at home and I basically had to keep her in a restricted area if I couldn’t watch her every move. Even eating something like a tiny dried up bug would put her into a terrible state. I’m sure she would’ve enjoyed something other than the prescription food that she ate; but she just couldn’t digest anything else.

It’s not just animals that might want something that they’re not ready for or that they can’t handle. Little children might hear the term “sex” and ask what that is. Yet, you know full well that they cannot handle the whole load of that information.

This principle also applies to Christians who want to operate in great authority in the Lord, or be able to do great and mighty things, or to know deep things of God, and yet they have not become controlled by the Holy Spirit in the area of their appetites, temperament, or in any other area of their life. With that, if you are not prepared for the deep things of God, you will not receive them.

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭2:20-21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In our opening scripture for today we see the Apostle Paul mourning the fact that he cannot share deeper things with the church at Corinth. This is because they have not allowed the Holy Spirit to direct and control their interactions with one another. What a sad state of affairs.

The writer of Hebrews gives a similar admonition referencing the things that should already be learned, but apparently have not been.

“There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5:11-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If we want to know and walk in the deep things of God, we must first make sure that we have mastered the basics. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves being like poor Addie Mae: desiring something that we cannot handle.

We light a tenth candle of illumination today by knowing this:

If you can’t handle the basic things of God, you will never receive the deeper things.

#25daysofillumination