READING: Hebrews 5-8
“But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.”
Hebrews 5:14
I wonder how long I was a baby in Christ. In fact, I sometimes wonder if I’m not still a baby in Christ. No matter how long I’ve been a believer, I continually recognize how much I still need to learn. It seems that the closer one gets to God, the more one’s needs become evident.
From today’s reading, though, I’m reminded of my early years as a believer. I was teaching a Sunday school class within three years of becoming a believer, and I started pastoring just a few years after that. I’m deeply grateful for those opportunities, but I also must admit that I was probably more a baby in Christ than I needed to be then. Frankly, I had not grown like I should have in Christ. I had grown in my interest in ministry, but I simply was not very mature in Christ. And, I have a hunch that my youthful arrogance those days would have made me bow up had anyone said to me what the writer of Hebrews said to his readers: “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food” (Heb. 5:12). I probably would have assumed I was ready for the solid food.
That’s one reason why disciplemaking means so much to me today. I want to keep growing in Christ, and I want to help others do the same. Perhaps the combination of accountability, spiritual disciplines, and encouragement will keep any of us from getting spiritually lazy.
ACTION STEPS:
- Evaluate your own walk with the Lord. Are you at all lazy?
- Prayerfully enlist someone to push you to keep growing in Christ.
PRAYER: “God, keep me from getting lazy in my relationship with God. Make me long for the meat of the Word.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Hebrews 9-13
