REV. EKOW ESHUN
TOPIC : THE ATTAINMENT OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY
SCRIPTURE: HEBREWS 5:12 (NKJV) ”For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
It seems to me that probably one of the most common and persistent challenges seen among believers is retarded spiritual growth. Retardation is slow growth or slow human development and can be physical, mental or spiritual as in the case of these Hebrew believers of which our main verse refers to.
Why is it that many years after some believers receive Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord, they have very little fruit or progress to show most of the time? How come that in many circles of believers, immature behaviour and the works of the flesh are far more common than true spirituality and Christlikeness? The causes of this retarded growth are many and we cannot put it down to one thing. However, one of the things that could be the most common cause is the failure to devote time to cultivate God’s Word in one’s personal life.
A child of God is usually strong or weak depending on how much he or she is able to apply the Word to make progress in their lives. Many times, a person’s attitude towards the reading, studying, meditation and application of the Word is the same as his or her attitude towards God’s person. Maturity in the Christian life therefore is practically impossible without a conscious dependence on and the habitual application of God’s Word. The Lord Jesus Christ put it this way in John 8, verses 31 to 32: ”If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)
Real followers of Christ Jesus are addicted to the cultivation of the Word for their own development and maturity. Continuing in the Word means habitual searching of the scriptures and the application of it on a regular basis. This is how we experience God and keep growing on a personal level and in a progressive way. The Hebrew believers were scolded by Apostle Paul because at the time spiritual maturity was expected of them, they were found wanting and were spiritually retarded.
Ask yourself honestly. Do I have a strong passion to consume God’s Word regularly? Are you really growing at the rate God expects you to? Are you ready to mature and be able to handle more responsibility faithfully and skillfully if given the chance by your pastor?
PRAYER
I thank you, Father, for the opportunity to grow and conform to the fullness of the character of Christ Jesus. I bless you for the constant help of the Holy Spirit that enables me to develop the desire and discipline to be a good student of the Word and also a diligent doer of it. Your grace is sufficient for me in Jesus’s, Amen.
FURTHER READING (NKJV) 1 PETER 2:1-5
[1]Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, [2]as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, [3]if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People [4]Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, [5]you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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