"Grow Up!" November 13 Readings: Ezekiel 33-34, Hebrews 5:11–6:20, Psalm 120, Proverbs 27:24–27

Today's Readings - Ezekiel 33-34, Hebrews 5:11–6:20, Psalm 120, Proverbs 27:24–27

Devotional 

My grandson Ellis is about to enter his "terrible twos" - with both feet! He is testing her limits, demanding his way, and throwing tantrums. We call him Hurricane Ellis - he leaves a swath of destruction wherever he goes. And it is incredibly cute. Even when he is being ornery he makes us laugh.

But it won't be so cute in 15 years if she behaves the same way. What is cute in a toddler is annoying in a child and intolerable in a teenager. Ellis is normal - that is how two-year-olds behave. But if he is still behaving the same way when he is 18, there won't be anything cute about it. Somewhere along the way, he will begin to hear those fateful words that parents often say to their children - GROW UP!

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. Too often we find believers who have been saved for 20 or 30 years still behaving like they are in their terrible twos.

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. 

Think and Pray

Are you growing and maturing in Christ?
Think back to what you were a year ago, two years ago? What has changed in you that is evidence of the maturing work of Christ?