‘You need someone to teach you again the first principles.’ Hebrews 5:12 NKJV
Addressing the early church, Paul said: ‘There is a great deal that we should like to say… but it is not easy to explain to you since you seem so slow to grasp spiritual truth. At a time when you should be teaching others, you need teachers yourselves… You have become people who need a milk diet and cannot face solid food! For anyone who continues to live on “milk” is obviously immature—he simply has not grown up. “Solid food” is only for the adult.’ (Hebrews 5:11–14 PHPS)
It’s known as ‘arrested spiritual development’, and it can happen to any of us. One sign a child is healthy and growing is that they no longer need to be fed from a bottle, or have their food cut up and put into their mouth. They may still prefer chocolate to vegetables, but hopefully they’re closer to understanding why they need vegetables.
If the only time you’re fed spiritually is in church on Sunday morning, why would you be surprised that you don’t have the faith to believe God for answered prayer, the strength to overcome temptation, or a sense of God’s guidance in your life? How long do you think you’d last if you only ate once a week? Job said, ‘I… treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.’ (Job 23:12 NKJV) David said, ‘How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ (Psalm 119:103 NKJV) Jeremiah wrote, ‘Your words were found, and I ate them… Your Word was… the joy and rejoicing of my heart.’ (Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV) To grow spiritually, you need the ‘strong meat’ of God’s Word (see Hebrews 5:14).
SoulFood: Rev 15–18, Mark 14:12–26, Ps 124, Pr 12:26
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©