Milk vs. Solid Food
“There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is
difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull . . . .
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.
So let us stop going over the
basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become
mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the
fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in
God. 2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of
hands, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God
willing, we will move forward to further understanding.”
Heb 5:11-6:3 (NLT)
Last time I wrote about our
tendency to pick and choose what scriptures we pay attention to, and how we
need to read the whole Bible, and to read a portion each day. A few days later,
in my daily Bible reading, I came upon the passage above. It seems the writer
of Hebrews was talking to just such a group of folks as I had in mind.
The first thing he says about
them is that they have become “spiritually dull”. The word in the New Testament Greek text
means slow, sluggish or lazy. I get the picture of one who has
had something like a big Thanksgiving dinner, and the tryptophan has kicked in,
and they are just sitting back and taking everything in. it is one thing to get
on spiritual overload, and sit back temporarily and digest everything you’ve taken
in. it is quite another thing to come to the conclusion that you have arrived,
and are in need of no further learning. Many of our brethren have come to this
place!
I have observed that folks who
read the Bible every day realize how much they still have to learn and are far
less likely to get to this point of false satisfaction.
The writer of Hebrews compares
his audience to infants who need a diet of milk. There is a place for the milk diet in
the lives of children, even as there is in spiritual children. We start off
with milk, which the writer here compares to the basic fundamentals of the faith:
repentance and faith; baptism; resurrection; eternity. He even mentions the
laying on of hands. We don’t do so much of this anymore, so maybe these folks
were even a step or two ahead of us! The point is that there is a place for
spiritual milk, particularly among young Christians. Peter tells us:
“Like newborn babies, you must
crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of
salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the
Lord’s kindness.” 1 Peter 2:2-3 (NLT).
The point that the Hebrews writer
is trying to make here is that there is a time to grow up and go on to solid
food. So many folks seem to get to the milk stage (and sometimes hardly that
far) and never progress to the solid food stage. There used to be a cartoon
character that depicted how these folks look. His name was Baby Hughie. He was
ridiculously large, and obviously physically mature, yet his much smaller parents
dressed him as a baby and pushed him around in a baby carriage while he sucked
on his baby bottle.
Hebrews says that these immature
Christians that he was talking about were students but they had been believers
for so long that they ought to be teachers by now. He told them in no uncertain
terms that it was time for them to move on!
This is precisely the point that
I am trying to make as well. We need to move on. We need to get into the depth
of the Word, and of our relationship with our Lord.
One final thing I would point out;
this moving on to maturity is not a spiritual condition that will just fall
upon us. It is not a spiritual gift. It is the result of our own effort in striving
for that maturity. He says in verse 14; “Solid
food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill
to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” (Emphasis added).
I had the privilege to hear some
stories about this at the weekly Gideon prayer breakfast this morning. I heard
of two separate individuals that were led to the Lord by a friend and his wife.
What stood out in these stories is that both of these individuals were engaging in
daily Bible reading, and were experiencing remarkable growth in their spiritual
lives.
The world is growing more and
more hostile to the evangelical Christian witness. At the same time our lives
are getting more and more hectic and rushed to the degree that we are getting
less and less involved in our spiritual growth. It is becoming easier for us
just to sit back in the pew and/or the Sunday School class, and let those
designated preachers and teachers spoon-feed us the scriptures.
Times are approaching when this
will not be adequate for the demands that our Christian faith will make upon us
as we follow Christ on His terms in this troubled world.
We who are Bible-believing
Christians put a lot of stock in whether we attend a Bible-believing church, or
whether we sit under a Bible-believing preacher. It takes more than a Bible
believing church or a Bible-believing clergy. It takes Bible reading Christian believers to make the
kind of difference we will need to make in the days ahead.
Read a chapter (or more) every
day!
Thanks for sharing this moment
with me today.
posted by Glenn Rivers | 3:45 PM
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