Hebrews 5:12(KJV) 12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
This week we have been discussing the necessity for the Church of Jesus Christ to possess the promises that Jesus died to give us. We must drive out the enemies that keep us from them and we must occupy this “land of promises” until Jesus returns. To do this we must come to a level of maturity in the faith. In Hebrews 5, Paul exhorts the church to do better in growing to maturity. He tells them that they should be teaching others when, in fact, they still need to be taught things they should already know.
In today’s verse, Paul says some of the Hebrew Christians had become as such who needed milk instead of strong meat. I find his wording interesting. It does not say they were such that needed milk. It says they became people that needed milk. To me this implies that, at one time, they did eat meat. We need to guard against regressing in our Christian walk. I believe we regress when we do not press forward.
The flow of the world is against the things of God. Many times, maybe in our initial salvation or if we have some other spiritual experience, we take a leap forward in our walk. We experience a “shot of faith” as it were. We apply ourselves to the Word and to our relationship with God. During these times, we grow. We are not just drinking the milk of the Word but we are eating some strong meat.
After a while our situation stabilizes or our enthusiasm wanes and we stop being so diligent. We do not take the same time in prayer and study. We stop being fervent in praise and worship. When that happens, we will find that the world is still flowing away from God not toward him. We can regress until we no longer want to hear the hard messages. We stop growing and begin to slip backward. This does not necessarily result in sin, but we find that we are no longer in a position to possess our land.
I believe we live in a day when this is dangerous. The world’s pull has increased in this generation. The direction of the flow is increasingly in strength to pull us away from God and towards ungodliness. If we are going to take the place Jesus has for us in the world, we must continue to grow and mature. We cannot afford to go backwards. For some this would be disastrous. For all it would be tragic.
How can we guard against this tendency? There are many things we need to do, but I want to focus on one from this verse. He speaks of milk and meat in referring to the Word of God. What is the difference?
Babies cannot tolerate solid foods right away. They cannot chew the food since they have no teeth. There digestive system is not quite capable of breaking down the nutrition in solid food. We give them milk to nourish them in such a way that their bodies can develop the necessary capabilities to handle solid food later in life.
The same is true in the spirit. When a person is newly saved, they cannot tolerate the meat of the word. They need milk so they can grow. Peter exhorts new believers along these lines.
1 Peter 2:2(NKJV) 2as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.
Milk is necessary in the early stages of our Christian walk. We may even need milk later on, as there are many dimensions of Christianity and we may grow at different rates in different areas. However, at some point all people must graduate to stronger food if they are going to become healthy adults. Once again, what is true in the natural is true in the spirit.
The milk portions of the word are those things that go down easily. They do not challenge us too much. They are not “hard to swallow” as it were. We do not have to chew on them. Milk can be different things to different people, but things like, “God loves you and wants to bless you.” are milky statements. They are true; they are basic and necessary for us to understand. They are part of the foundation we need to build upon. However, they are not too hard to digest. (I know there are those who have had difficult childhoods etc. that this may be meat for them, but for most people it is milk by nature.)
What would be the meat of the Word? Let me give you an example.
Hebrews 12:1(NKJV) 1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
This scripture is a little harder to digest. It challenges us on some personal levels. We are being required to do some things here that may be uncomfortable. We must repent of the sins that “easily beset us.” I define those as the ones we like. Every one of us has things we know are wrong but we struggle with them because our flesh has become accustomed to them.
This verse does not end there. It says we must also lay aside weights. What is he talking about here? He is talking about things that may not be sin at all; however, they weigh us down and keep us from being all the Lord wants us to be. This is a little harder to digest, but we must be willing to hear and obey this verse.
He continues by telling us we have a race to run. “I thought that when I got saved God would do everything for me.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. Christianity is a lifestyle and requires our full participation if we are going to be successful. There are requirements. There is a race to run and you must run it for yourself.
If we are going to continue to grow, we must be willing to receive the meat of the Word of God. The milk is wonderful and even needful. Nevertheless, if we will not eat meat we will remain babes in Christ. A babe cannot possess his land.
Let me encourage you to look at your spiritual diet. Are you taking in a good balance? Are you hearing things that challenge you and encourage you to go farther with the Lord? What is your reaction when you do? Do you back away from the hard sayings of Jesus? Do you feel that you cannot do the challenging things? That is a lie from the devil. As babies grow, they naturally become able to eat more and more types of food. They do not have to learn how, they just do.
You can handle things that may make you uncomfortable. You need to read things and hear things that challenge you to change. This is the meat of the word and it will help you continue to grow in your Christian walk until you are able to possess your land of promises.
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