Hebrews 5:11

There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

Ouch! The writer of Hebrews didn’t pull his punches. He was frustrated with the spiritual dullness of his readers and let them know it. He had hoped that they would have developed much more in their faith so that they could, by this stage, have become teachers but clearly that isn’t the case. They were still needing to drink milk because they hadn’t progressed on to solid food.

One of the big mistakes that people make is to think that when you have become a Christian that’s it. You have received the amazing gift of forgiveness and God’s promise of eternal salvation, and you can now sit back and enjoy them. There is nowhere in the New Testament that would support that view! New birth in Christ leads to a new life in which we need to be constantly growing and maturing. Sadly, all too often Christians get stuck. They learn the basics and leave it at that. God’s desire for our lives is completely different, because he wants to see constant growth. That was the longing of the writer to the Hebrews too and, as the letter develops, we will see him illustrate numerous ways in which he longed for growth.

In his second letter Peter spelt out the way in which Christian growth happens: “Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). Peter clearly saw the Christian life as one in which we are constantly growing. This was precisely the view of the writer to the Hebrews too. But what he was looking at was stagnation and weakness and it clearly troubled him deeply. His whole letter was written with a view to encouraging them to grow, and keep growing.

Question

Looking at the verses from 2 Peter 1, where do you need to grow at present?

Prayer

Loving Father, I thank you that you love me so much that you are wanting me to keep growing. Amen