“11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:11-14) Maybe Paul wrote this or maybe he didn’t, but nonetheless the author was trying to get a group of Believers (the Messianic Church) who were in danger of falling away from the truth to reevaluate their spiritual lives and wellbeing.
Sisters, today I have the same goal as the
author of Hebrews. I hope to get us to reevaluate our spiritual maturity and
what we need to do in order to make change. Amen!
The author of Hebrews was not talking to new
converts (the true babies), no, he was addressing those who had been in the
household of faith for sometime—years even! And that is who I am mainly
addressing today.
In the natural babies cry and whine a lot.
This is normal and expected. We understand this is their only form of
communication for awhile, and as mothers and caregivers we quickly learn to read
and understand their needs and wants.
Well, we can tell a baby Christian the same way. They whine, complain,
and find fault a lot. But this is to be expected because coming from a world of
sin and being used to doing whatever you felt like doing, is a huge shock to
the physical and spiritual being in us. But just as babies start to grow and
become capable of rolling over, crawling, and walking, so should we as
Believers. Babies drink nothing but milk for awhile, but then we begin to
introduce mushy solid foods in the form of grains, fruits and veggies. It is sometime
before we introduce meat into their diet. First we wait for teeth to come in and
they can chew without chocking. And last but not least we make sure their
digestive system is developed enough to be able to handle it.
It’s the same in the spiritual life of a
newborn Believer. It takes time to be able to eat the meat and throw away the
bones on our own. As well educated and affluent as Paul was,—He still went away
for 3 years to learn and get understanding—after his Damascus experience with
Jesus. So, it does take time to find and develop our spiritual muscles. But it
doesn’t take forever—well it shouldn’t.
We can gage the spiritual maturity in our
lives and that of others by answering one simple question, “How do we handle
people and stressful situations in our lives?”
Are you one who complains a lot to others?
If you answered “Yes,” you are a baby. Do you still find yourself easily
angered and unwilling to forgive? Do you keep a list of wrongs others have done
to you? Are you having sex outside of marriage? Do you think its okay to lie?
Do you repay evil-for-evil? Do you think it is okay to steal from your job—whether
it is paid time or office supplies? Is your first response in handling a
situation still led by your fleshly feelings? When given godly or constructive criticism,
do you respond defensively versus listen to what is being said? Are you taking
things into your own hands and then getting upset with God because they didn’t
work out? Do you still think your voice is that of God? I think you get the
picture by now. These are some of the things that show us we are still babies.
You might ask, “Why are many of us finding
ourselves trapped as a spiritual infant?” Well, for one, we don’t study the
Bible and we don’t do what it says to do! It is not complicated.
How can we turn things around?
Simple…go back to the elementary truths of God’s Word!
And listen to James—start being doers of the Word—not
hearers only—and stop deceiving ourselves.
We won’t learn to discern the voice of Jesus if we do not
spend quality time studying and meditating on the things of the Bible. We cannot hope to build strong spiritual
muscles if we don’t do things God’s way, no matter how difficult or hard it may
be.
There is no excuse for any of us to not be growing in the
things of the Lord in this day in age. If your church does not have a good
women’s Bible study or you are unable to attend…there are good books to read
and lessons on the internet.
Yes, there is so much out there one could be confused, so I
am going to suggest Gloria Copeland and Joyce Myer! Why? They will help you
lean the “elementary truths of God’s Word!”
I admonish you to stay away from the Paula Whites and Juanita Bynums of our times. Why? “But solid food is for
the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good
from evil,” and as babies we
cannot distinguish, so I’m going to help you at this time.
My dear sisters, it is time for many of us
to grow up and throw away the bottle. It is time to ditch the pull-ups and put
on our big girl panties and walk in the confidence of the Lord! Accepting God’s
will for our lives (whether it looks like what we wanted or not) and trusting
He knows best.
Start agreeing with God in ALL areas of
your life, and you will begin to see the drama and sin leave. Only to be
replaced with peace, love, joy, contentment and gratitude! God’s way—is the
only true way to live the good life on this earth. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment