Growing to Maturity
1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrew 5:11-14
In my country, priests are transferred from church to church within the diocese every 3-5years. To this effect, A new priest was posted to a renowned Anglican Church by the Bishop. As he settled into the church, he started teaching sermons on a particular topic which he discerned was God's mind for the congregation.
After a few months, the congregation observed that his message had the same direction always. They were quite upset about this and reported the matter to the bishop. The priest was summoned and he was asked why he kept preaching the same sermon. He quietly responded.
My lord bishop I have several sermon ready to preach and teach the congregation however I am unable to change my sermon since the congregation has not implemented the ones I have taught already. He showed the bishop his sermon notes and the bishop gave him his full support encouraging the congregation to learn from the words of Paul who applied this principle of discipleship in different churches he pastored.
1 Corinthians 3:2- I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
Hebrews 5:11-14- We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
God has so much to teach us as we journey through life and faith. The trouble is that you cannot effectively teach a child how to run unless the child is ready to crawl and walk. Many of us have decided to give our heart to Jesus - the first step of the Christian journey. However, we have little or no plans for growing unto maturity. We are like children a bit unwilling to wean off milk unto solids. You and I know that if a child refuses to move from milk to solid, eventually malnutrition or retarded growth would set in. Perhaps this may be why some think Christianity is boring. I can assure you that a loving relationship with Jesus is an exciting and eventful life that is worth pursuing.
I understand the busyness of joggling work and family demands but the truth is that we have only one life to live. We won't get another life so placing God as our priority would put everything else into perspective.
Have you made a plan for a consistent time with God? Have you bothered to find your closest house fellowship group where you can meet other believers in a small group? Have you tried a bible reading plan for the year? Practicing some of these principles would really help us grow unto maturity. Shalom!