"Roadblock to Maturity"
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When our daughter was little, we used to make our baby food. We'd blend up all kinds of foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, and avocados, storing them away until dinner time. As she got older and could handle more "substantial" meals, she refused to eat some of those same foods she enjoyed as a baby. She put up a roadblock and wouldn't even try them.
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child" (Heb. 5:12–13).
Destination: Maturity
It's incredible how quickly time flies, how our little ones grow into mature adults, almost overnight. Before you realize it, they're leaving the nest and heading off to college. While we (sometimes reluctantly) want them to grow up physically, it's spiritual growth that should be a goal for all of us.
We follow Paul's encouragement to Timothy to "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). But physical age has very little to do with being spiritually mature. And being a Christian for a long time doesn't necessarily make you a grown-up in the faith.
So, if we say we want to become skillful in handling God's word, what roadblock prevents that possibility from becoming a reality?
Roadblock: Lacking Knowledge
Without knowledge, we'll never become mature. And God rejects those who lack knowledge but call themselves his children (Hosea 4:6). When we invest our time in other activities, distracted from the study of God's Word, we'll never develop a deep relationship with our Creator. Growing up into maturity can only happen if we're feeding ourselves spiritually nutritious foods. What kinds of food are you feeding yourself? "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Peter 2:2–3).
Unless we're in the word, studying it, pushing ourselves with it, and exercising our powers of discernment, we'll remain spiritual babies. Are we scratching the surface or exploring the depths? When we dig into the more "meaty" meals in our study, we'll develop the skills to handle life's confounding challenges. As the Hebrew writer went on to say, "... solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (Heb. 5:14).
God presents us with the "meat" of his word. It's always available. So are you hungry for it and ready to eat?
