June and I were sharing lunch with old friends last week, and we were discussing our respective visits to Israel. We were privileged to travel there in 2004 while our daughter and husband were teaching at an American school in Herzelia. During our conversation, I shared this story…

While there we did a Sunday afternoon workshop on daily time with God, much like I’ve taught many times and write about here from time to time. It’s a simple plan: take a short section of scripture and…

• Read, marking what stands out to you – what God is saying to you in that moment
• Reflect, on one of those thoughts, applying it personally and specifically
• Respond to God in prayer
• Record the time in a journal

That’s all. It’s simple, doable, and I have journals with instructions available online.

So I was teaching this to a group from our daughter’s church in Israel. As I was wrapping up with questions and answers, in walked well-known international Bible teachers and authors Stuart and Jill Briscoe. I said something like, “Stuart, it’s nice to meet you all. We’ve been spending the afternoon talking about how we can have daily time with God through the Word and prayer. Would you like to say a little something to close us out?” Stuart and Jill live in Wisconsin, but Stuart is originally from England. In his inimitable British accent he said:

In John 21, Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my lambs…feed my sheep.” Now I used to tend sheep in England. And the way you feed a lamb is to pick it up, put it under your arm, and stick a bottle in its mouth. The way you feed a sheep is to take it out and show it where the pasture is. I think in many of our churches, we have a lot of adult sheep under our arms and we’re trying to stick bottles in their mouths!

Then he looked at me and said, “Are you and I on the same page?” And I replied, “Yes sir.”

It was a good lesson. Why are we bottle-feeding people that should be feeding themselves? 1 John 2 is clear: we should be progressing from infants -> children -> young adults -> parents. Young adults feed themselves; parents feed others.

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2.12 – 14, ESV, emphasis mine)