Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly–mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).

Ouch.

I would hate to get a message like that from Paul the Apostle.

And you know, that’s probably the exact message I would get.  I read this passage, and I get the twinge in my gut that says, “This is for you, Bub.” 

I rarely call myself “Bub,” but when I do I mean business.

Some days I feel like I have made so little progress in my walk with Christ.  I still struggle with the same doubts, the same fears, the same sins that I struggled with years ago.  I’m still slurping when I ought to be chewing.

And I figure that God must be angry with me, because I’m angry with me.

And yet (don’t you just love the “And yet” part?)

And yet, Paul doesn’t seem angry here.  

He seems honest, maybe exasperated.  He sounds a little like I do when I explain to my students, for the 1500th time, that the words there, they’re, and their are not interchangeable.

Above all, he is patient.

As is the God he serves.

Beloved, I encourage you to grow up.  Steak tastes better than milk, and God has called you to run your race, not drag your feet.

And yet…there is grace.

He is patient.

Your Father is not beating you up over your failures.

So why are you?

Happy Friday, Beloved.