Read Hebrews 5.
An old adage says, "People know more Bible than they are practicing."
That saying was then used to teach less Scripture and talk more about
personal and social issues. My experience has led me to believe the
opposite. Most people do not know enough Bible to practice.
Such was the case with the original readers of Hebrews. The writer
desired to share even more insights concerning Jesus as the High Priest of our
faith, but they could not absorb it (v.11). The reason had to do with
their spiritual immaturity. Being bombarded, perhaps even enamored, by
the culture around them, they proved slow in learning the difference between
right and wrong, evil and good (v.14). They knew more about sin than
holiness.
In that state, their need was to be taught the ABC's of the faith all over
again. They had forgotten the spiritual alphabet, if you will; those
initial things that every follower of Jesus should know. The chastisement
here is not because they had not been taught these things and more, but they
had failed to put them into practice. Indeed, "by this time you
ought to be teachers." (v.12) The goal of knowing God's word is not
for personal information. It is first so that we may live a changed and
transformed life by knowing God and His expectations of us. Then, we are
to communicate with others what we are learning. The result will be a
growing maturity in the faith.
Scriptural information is called the milk of the word. One's inability to
communicate the Scriptures they have been taught reveals this need.
Solid food, or meat, is the practice of the word. Spiritual maturity does
not happen in a class or a study group. Real life application of God's
word requires wisdom and discernment (v.14). Such opportunities for
practice occur throughout each day in our choices of speech and behavior, the
use of our time and other resources. These actions show everyone around
us the level of our faith.
In other words, what we do not use we lose.
No comments:
Post a Comment