Apr 10

Hebrews 5:11-14
Memorise 2 Peter 3:16-18
“But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of… Jesus Christ.”

The writer of Hebrews was frustrated with the people that he was writing to, for they lack the maturity to understand some of the things that he wanted to teach them. He described them as spiritual babies who still needed milk, and not mature believers who can consume meat. We realise that God desires all His children to mature in the faith. They must all learn to discern and proclaim the truth, reject and warn others about falsehood and glorify God. As every loving parent would desire and expect their little ones to grow physically and become independent and productive adults, likewise this is what God desires of us.

When a Christian is first born again, he would be “unskillful in the word of righteousness”. Perhaps there might be some passages of Scripture which he finds difficult to understand; as our text tells us, this is natural “for he is a babe”. But as he grows, he would slowly learn to “discern both good and evil”. How? Through regular reading of and meditation on God’s Word, which gradually honed his ability to interpret the Bible, even the more difficult passages.

Note, however, that this process does not come automatically for God the Holy Spirit will not do for us what we can reasonably do for ourselves, which is to consistently study and live out God’s Word. This is why we are told that those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil are also those who are mature enough to handle the strong meat, rather than milk, of God’s Word (Hebrews 5:14).

God’s Word is so amazing that it is simple enough even for young children to understand and accept the most fundamental truth - salvation through Jesus. Yet, it is deep enough that we may need all of eternity to discover all of its wonderful truths. Certainly, we need not be “meat” Christians to know the Gospel but we do need to be “meat” Christians to have a deeper understanding of His Word which will make us steadfast and discerning. Only then can we be of greater use to God, proclaiming His Word to those who are still outside His kingdom and to help other believers grow in the faith.

Thought: The only way to become more of a “meat” Christian is to start feasting on the “meat” of God’s Word!
Prayer: Loving heavenly Father, thank Thee for Thy Word which is not just milk and meat but also bread indeed for my hungry soul.