JUN 6

Hebrews 5:12-13
Memorise 2 Timothy 2:15
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God…”

What are the five points of Calvinism? Do we believe in Covenant Theology or Dispensationalism? How many sacraments does our church practise? If you have been following the teenz RPG series diligently, these questions should at least sound familiar to you. In fact if you regularly pay attention to the Sunday sermons, these issues should not be new at all. But are you able to answer them, and are you able to point to passages of Scripture that contain the answers?

The writer of the Hebrews was, in today’s reading, criticising the Christians who ought to have possessed some degree of knowledge regarding the Bible. They had probably been Christians for some time already, and were in the position where they should have been shouldering the responsibility of instructing the younger Christians. But instead, they themselves needed to be taught the basic doctrines again! The analogy of milk vs meat is used here – they were compared to infants that could only drink milk, and they were not yet ready to digest the “meatier” things of God’s Word, i.e. the more difficult or complex doctrines. Hence they were described as being “unskillful in the word of righteousness” – they lacked the ability to understand the Bible, to handle the Scriptures with maturity, to wield the Sword of the Spirit with skill and finesse.

How about you, dear teen? How long have you been a Christian for? You may have had the privilege of growing up in church, of going to Sunday School and learning all the Bible stories. Perhaps you are even an expert at Bible trivia and can answer the most obscure questions in a Bible quiz. But knowledge of God’s Word is not about memorising mere facts and figures. It is about really knowing and understanding the Bible, the teachings and the doctrines that are contained therein. Only when you are adequately taught in the Word of righteousness will you be able to put it into practice and to live it out in your daily life – to help you to mature and grow in your faith, to guide you in your decisions, and to guard against temptation. And then you would also be equipped to teach it to others, and to defend it when the need arises. It is not only theologians or Bible college students that need to know God’s Word – it is the responsibility and privilege of every Christian to know it, and to love it!

Thought: Am I a “workman that needeth not to be ashamed”?

Prayer: “Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.”