(Excerpts from the book titled THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL by Andrew Murray)
Babyhood at the proper time is the most beautiful thing in the world, but babyhood prolonged is a burden and a sorrow, a sign of disease.
What are the marks of a baby? A baby can't help itself and neither can it help others. That is the life of many christians today, they make their ministers spiritual nurses of babes. It is a solemn thing that these spiritual babes keep their ministers occupied all the time in nursing and feeding them. They never want to grow mature, and they never help themselves. They do not know how to feed on Christ's word, and therefore the minister must help them. They always want to be nursed.
But, you know else a baby does? He always keep the household going, and with the result been that often times, the mother can't go out bevause of baby, or the servant, maid or nurse must always be there to look after baby. And so baby occupies somebody all the time. You just cannot leave him alone.
Similarly, there are many spiritual infants who are forever wanting help and to whom ministers are always attending to, thereby making these ministers stagnant and not growing. Instead of allowing themselves to be trained to know their God and be strong, alas! Their spiritual lives are a 'PROTRACTED INFANCY'. They cannot help themselves but occupy thers.
It is not a thing to be wondered at when a spiritual babe of a 3months, remains carnal or keeps falling into sin. But when a believer continues year after year in the same state of been conquered by sin, then something is radically wrong.
Our prayer should be 'O Lord I am carnal. I am in a diseased state of protracted infancy and want to be helped out of it'. He will help you.
