Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

Ahh, milk, the beverage that sustains life. As the husband to a wife who breastfed all four of our children, I have to say, big fan. You see, 13,000 times a night, when our child got up to eat, I and I alone remained asleep. I am not equipped to serve the beverage that children often long for in the nighttime hours. It’s not until those little bundles of joy turn into toddlers that you really appreciate the baby stage. You see, a baby eats, pees and poops, gives you some cute baby stuff for a bit, and then requires a much-needed nap. Honestly, we’re not so different, babies and I. Now, granted, I think our baby experience was largely very easy and forgiving compared to that of other parents. Our kids did not take long to sleep through the night, were not colicky, and were always good for a minimum of 2-3 hours of nap. Fast forward to the toddler stage. Those creatures move with lightning speed, require constant supervision, and have one thing on their minds…complete destruction. Anything that holds a place near and dear to your heart is no longer safe. Clean house? Gone. Sheetrock without blemish? Gone. Healthy mental state? Also gone. 

One of the biggest transitions for me was coming into the circle of feeding a child. Prior to this time, Brittany handled all of the life sustaining in terms of food. When you join the circle of feeding, your child requires your help. You have to prepare a meal. You have to feed 2/3 of it to them, while the other 1/3 is haphazardly dispersed between their clothes, the table, or the floor. Not a fun time for a parent who has been on Easy Street for several months up until this point. It’s a long, arduous journey, but you know what? Eventually, your child learns to eat new foods, can feed themselves, and somehow discern between a vegetable and a piece of candy without any prior knowledge of any defining characteristics of the aforementioned foods.

At the end of Hebrews chapter 5, the writer discusses spiritual immaturity. The author is sort of reprimanding the audience. You see, at this point, they have had the “milk” of the Gospel teachings. It’s at this point that they should be teaching others about the Gospel and feeding themselves with the “meat”, but have failed to do so. The Hebrews had long been exposed to the Gospel in order to teach it to others. Still, they were babies, too infantile and unskilled to comprehend, let alone teach, the truth of God. Knowledge without obedience does not advance a person. The pathway to maturity and to solid biblical food is not first becoming an intelligent person, but becoming an obedient person. Verse 14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Read 1 Timothy 4:7-8. The person who has come to Christ for spiritual completion is then trained by the Word to discern truth from error and holy behavior from unholy. What you do with alcohol and sex and money and leisure and food and computers has more to do with your capacity for solid food than where you go to school or what books you read. We are prone to think that education is the key to maturity. There are many scholars and PhDs who choke in their spiritual immaturity on the things of God, and there are many less educated saints who are deeply mature and can feed on the deepest things of God’s Word. Got milk? Good. Now pass the cup to your neighbor and order the steak.

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

Take a few moments to reflect on your spiritual maturity. Are you still drinking milk when you should be feeding on solid food? What can you do to help your transition?

Who do you know that has never heard the Gospel? When will you start them on the milk of the Gospel?

Prayer: God, help us to seek You. Grow our thirst for Your word and let it not be a book on a shelf collecting dust, but a manual guiding our lives and instructing us to teach our neighbors. Give us community and give us courage. We love You.

Use the S.O.A.P. Method to study God’s Word.

• SCRIPTURE: What stands out to you in today’s passage?
• OBSERVATION: What is this text saying? What is the context? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? Are there any commands, instructions, or promises?
• APPLICATION: How can you apply this verse to your life? What does this mean today? What is God saying to you?
• PRAYER: Respond to the passage in prayer. Ask God to help you apply this truth to your life and spend some time listening to what He may be telling you.