Why Is He Not Walking?

His muscles are strong.  His nerves are intact and his bones are sturdy.  He has shoes.  He knows how to crawl.  What’s the matter with him?  Why isn’t he walking yet?  Both my boys walked at 12 months.  We could not wait for them to take those first steps.  What was the hold up?  Well, maybe crawling in a sandbox is not the best place to rise up and walk.  In this picture, Zachary is 6 months old so maybe that is a tad young.  Even though he could kick pretty well, his strength was not all it needed to be.  He certainly had not conquered the maneuver of balancing himself while standing.  The process of learning to walk has stages.  Some skip a few others go through each stage quickly and some take the time.  The developmental milestone of walking is different for each child.  The question is not “Why aren’t you walking” but what can I do to assist you in achieving your goal?

Hebrews 5:12-14

¹² 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. ¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ 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.

I expect most of us have been guilty of expecting spiritual transformation overnight especially in other people.  We are incredulous that someone we thought should be teaching a class is the student asking questions you assumed they knew already.  Why have they not grown, we ask?  Maybe, although they have been in church for years they have only recently accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or they may not have been under Biblical teaching before, or they have not had the opportunity to exercise what they already know so they lack strength.  Instead of mocking their immaturity, how about taking them under your wing to mentor and walk alongside as they grow in knowledge and begin to discern between good and evil.  It’s amazing to see how God works when we help a babe in Christ learn to walk.