ODJ: forever young
April 15, 2011
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 (6:1).
READ: Hebrews 5:11-6:3
Brooke Greenberg likes to giggle and crawl around just like any other toddler. She’s 76 cm (30 inches) tall and weighs about 7 kg (16 pounds), but Brooke was born in 1993. At 18 years old, she’s still trapped in the body of a 1-year-old due to a rare condition called Syndrome X. A doctor observed, “Her cellular age does not match her actual age.”
When the author of Hebrews penned his epistle, he addressed the spiritual immaturity of his audience. His concern was that they were acting like spiritual babies who needed basic instruction instead of more advanced teaching (5:13). The writer wanted to give them real spiritual meat, but they hadn’t developed beyond the intake of spiritual milk. Though they’d been believers long enough to be teaching others (v.12), they hadn’t been growing in their knowledge of the Word of God. This stifling inertia had left them “spiritually dull” (v.11). They lacked maturity to discern the basic difference between right and wrong (v.14). In fact, they were clueless about doing the right things (v.13).
So the author challenged them to move on to maturity and the deeper truths of the faith (6:1-3). But just prior to his appeal, he gave them the secret to maturity: Spiritual maturity comes from the constant application of God’s Word into the situations of life (5:14). It’s not something that just develops automatically over time.
Recently, I was reminded that God is more concerned about the way we do the tasks He’s entrusted to us than in our ability to simply get them done. This is because He wants us to become like Jesus. But many of us are more concerned about accomplishing our to-do list than in Christ being formed in us.
Let’s seek to become mature in Jesus as we passionately feed on His Word and live out its wisdom. —Poh Fang Chia
What situations are you facing at work, at home, or in church that require biblical wisdom? What principles found in God’s Word will you apply to those situations?
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