DAILY WORD 6/24/20

11. There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

12. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.

13. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.

14. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Hebrews 5:11–14 NLT

Today’s passage concludes Chapter 5 of the Book of Hebrews and brings in a concept that I’ve been referring to since I began the commentary on this Book. That is the concept of Meat.

In the King James Version, the references to “Solid Food” that are made here in Verses 12 and 14 are described as “Strong Meat”, that is to say, multi-faceted or complex Doctrine.

The author actually shows a bit of what appears to be frustration with his readers as he reveals that he has much more to tell them but he holds back because his readers are apparently slow on the uptake.

He compares them to infants who subsist only on milk or baby food, a liquid diet, instead of meat, vegetables, and solid food. There are more complex nutrients in meat than there is in milk and the author tells the readers that they have been Christians long enough to be eating solid food instead of milk.

He tells them if they were further along in their development, he’d be able to give them more nourishing meals of Doctrine but he has to stop where he is because they are still developing their teeth and stomachs in order to digest a Real Meal.

This is, of course, a metaphor about Spiritual development. He is in essence telling his readers that they still don’t know the difference between right and wrong when they should be well past that point in their Spiritual Walks.

We often find ourselves in this very same place with God. We have been in “The Way” for a while but still find ourselves hung up on the same sins, lusts, and issues that we have been dealing with for years with no seeming end in sight. I know this is the truth in my life at least.

God is looking for us to get past these recurring issues so that he can give us more Nourishing Doctrine to discern but until we develop past our infantile hang-ups, we can never experience the True Pleasure of “Strong Meat”!

It’s time to grow up and become adults in our Walk with Christ. There are higher planes of understanding that He has in store for us but first we must show our Spiritual Maturity and prove that we have what it takes to handle the deep end of the pool.

We cannot always stay babies. We have to grow. To do this we may have to learn some hard lessons and go through some growing pains. This may entail some self-denial, some personal-development, and some Spiritual Surgery but in the end, we will be better for it and will be ready for the next level.

Do whatever it takes to grow because whatever is not growing is dead, and as it says in John 15:6, dead things are cast away to be burned. However, as the Chapter goes on to say, if we are connected to the “True Vine”, we will thrive and bear much fruit!

Have a Tremendous Tuesday and Stay Safe out there!