The Joy of Nourishing
Is there anything sweeter than cradling your baby in your arms and nourishing him or her with the sweet milk God made just right for the baby’s needs? Imagine the heart of God when He decided to create this beautiful way to nourish a new human being, to nourish his body, his heart, his soul, and his mind.
On Sunday our minister pointed out to us many specific ways that Jesus was God and man at the same time. One was the precious truth that as Mary nourished Jesus at her breast, she was feeding the Son of God with milk He himself had made.
When we are learning to be mamas with our very first baby, we can be so overwhelmed by the newness and the responsibility of it all that things seem far from simple. However, as I look back to 1979 now with the perspective of the years, I can see how very simple it was: sit in the yellow painted rocking chair, gaze into my baby’s eyes, hold and feed and sing. For those few moments, I could meet all his needs without any hustle or bustle. I didn’t even have to get up out of my seat.
In the simple — and profound — act of breastfeeding, God pictures for us what our responsibilities are for our children. We are to nourish them in heart, soul, mind, and strength. Mary didn’t stop doing that when Jesus was a baby; she continued as He grew, so that when He passed age twelve:
. . . Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature,
and in favor with God and men.
Luke 2:52
Mary was doing what the wise parent in Proverbs 3 had done for his son, when he told him:
My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.
Proverbs 3:1-4
As we enter the new year, let’s remember the lesson embodied in breastfeeding and keep a healthy balance of nourishing our children in heart, soul, mind, and body, not neglecting any area of nourishment and not letting any area get out of balance.
The strength to fulfill our role of nourishing our children in each area comes from Jesus Who is nourishing us.
So husbands ought also to love their own wives
as their own bodies.
He who loves his own wife loves himself;
for no one ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it,
just as Christ also does the church,
because we are members of His body.
Ephesians 5:28-30