SPIRITUAL WEANING
“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. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” – Hebrews 5:12-14 (NLT)
Let’s talk weaning! Noah has just started her weaning journey and it is messy!! But it’s essential for her physical and mental growth so we are persisting.
The same is true for our spiritual journey; when we come to know Jesus, we start by learning the basics. But over time, it’s important that our faith grows deeper – because that’s how we mature.
It’s wonderful that we are saved by grace alone, that anyone can come to Jesus asking for forgiveness. But as we learn and grow, we need more than just this basic truth. We need a deeper understanding of God and his will, and how we can be more like him.
Hebrews encourages us to make the transition to “solid food” by continually using the Bible to teach ourselves to distinguish good from evil, so we can live a life that truly honours God.
There are so many things that can help us grow and understand more. Meeting with other Christians and encouraging one another. Reading the easy to understand bits and the hard bits of the bible. Spending time with God, wrestling as we seek revelation to understand. Reading bible commentaries, listening to sermons, doing bible studies. And putting into action what we learn to become more like Jesus.
We shouldn’t forget the foundation of Christianity (the “milk”), but milk alone can only grow us so far! Like a baby needs to be weaned, we need to make the transition to solid spiritual food. It may be messy. It may be difficult as we seek to understand more. But it will be worth it as we mature to become more like Jesus.
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