What's for dinner?





Scripture

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
(Hebrews 5:12 NASB)
For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
(Hebrews 5:13 NASB)
But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
(Hebrews 5:14 NASB)

Observation

What's for dinner? This is a question in relation to spiritual food. Not everyone is eating the same thing because not everyone is in the same place in terms of their spiritual life. However, if we've been walking with the Lord for a long period of time, there is no reason that we ought to still be eating baby food! We are warned that we must grow up, that there is no way that we can survive on milk only. It is good for a particular period of time in our lives, but as the body grows, milk will never sustain us. In the same way, for those of us who are followers of Christ, if we are to grow, we must continually move on and become mature. Jean DaniƩlou reminds us that we are not to try and hold onto any particular stage in our spiritual development because that would "put a stop to the movement of the soul. For sin is ultimately a refusal to grow." (From Glory to Glory, 59-60)

Application

So again I ask, what's for dinner? If sin is a refusal to grow, this becomes a very serious question. There seem to be places in our spiritual walk where we almost get to a plateau and we want to hang out there. Maybe it is as we first begin our spiritual walk. We are enjoying being in church and learning new things but when we are challenged to go deeper, we simply say that this is enough and we don't need more. The truth is, we do need more. We must keep on pressing on and getting to know Him more and more. There may be another plateau as well, one in which we believe that we have reached a point of spiritual satiety. We have been entirely filled with the Holy Spirit and we have entirely consecrated ourselves to Him. But here comes another powerful statement from DaniƩlou. "It is thus a mistake to imagine perfection as a state of complete immobility in restored innocence. Perfection is progress itself: the perfect man is the one who continually makes progress. And this cannot have limit." (From Glory to Glory, 52) There is no limit to our continuous forward progress because we are united with Christ and He is God, and He is infinite. Therefore to think and/or believe that there is an end is simply wrong. Every single day of our lives ought to be one of forward progress in our relationship with God, for our goal is to know God.

So, what's for dinner?

Prayer

Lord, may I, this day, draw nearer to You and grow in Your holy presence. Amen.

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