Stop the Cradle by ADS

(My grandmother, Anna Daisy Siemens, wrote poetry and prose. This devotion was written and published for Devotions for the Deaf in 1994)Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:11-24Babies have no control over their cradle’s movements. When a loving hand gently rocks them, they go to sleep. However a violent push tosses them to and fro. Cradles have no safety belts.How many adults lie in spiritual cradles, jolted from false doctrines to cults. They are afraid. They are not anchored in faith. They need to step out of the cradle and grow up. (Hebrews 5:11ff) But how?In family life, children are taught how to walk, to feed and clothe themselves, and to help with chores as they grow. The same is true in God’s family, the church.Maturity comes as we learn to do things. We must study God’s Word so we know the truth. We must be joined together with other Christians, all of us working together to be like Jesus. When we live in unity with Christ, we will stop rocking in uncertainty. We will find peace and security in this unstable world. ADSThen we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:14, 15Prayer: Dear Father remove me from the cradle and anchor me in Your truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.