Grow UP! November 13 Readings: Jeremiah 44–47, Hebrews 5:11–6:20, Psalm 120, Proverbs 27:24–27

Links to November 13 Readings: Jeremiah 44–47, Hebrews 5:11–6:20, Psalm 120,  Proverbs 27:24–27

My granddaughter, Johannah, is the cutest thing. She is just learning to walk, trying to communicate, exploring the world around her, and learning new things every day. Even her bad habits are endearing. We call her Hurricane Johannah - everywhere she goes she leaves a swath of destruction in her path. She has this thing about going into the bathroom and unrolling the TP all over the floor. Adorable! When she eats, most of the food is spread across the dining room floor. She can be demanding, whiny, ill-tempered and grouchy. And it's all so cute. I wish all my grandkids could live with us!

But it won't be so cute in 15 years if she behaves the same way. What is cute in a baby is annoying in a toddler and intolerable in a teenager. Johannah is normal - that is how babies behave. But if she is still behaving the same way when she is 18, there won't be anything cute about it.

That is what the author of Hebrews was saying to his readers in Hebrews 5:12.

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. 

What was the problem? They should have been mature, leading others in the ways of Christ, and training them to follow him, but they were not. They were still having to learn the basic lessons of life. They have remained on a diet of milk instead of going on to eating the solid food they need to grow. 

We sometimes wonder why the church is in the kind of mess that it is in today. The problem is what the author diagnosed here in this passage. American Christians live on a baby's diet, refusing to dig into the meat of the Word and staying with the pablum, or worse, living on a diet of junk food - but that's another devotional altogether. 

There is a simple solution to this problem. We need to grow up, to mature in Christ, to grow in him. We need to deal with the sicknesses that prevent spiritual growth, by repenting of our sin and seeking God. We must get a consistent diet of high-nutrition solid spiritual food, by reading studying and obeying God's Word. As we turn from our growth-stunting sins and feast upon God's Word, we will grow and leave behind childish behavior. 

Father, build your character into me. May I grow strong in you through your Word.