Hebrews 5:12

Hebrews 5:12

Milk, not solid food

For a Pastor, there is nothing more frustrating than to have members in your congregation who have never progressed, who stand still in their faith and show no inclination to move on! Some boast of a great experience in the past, of an encounter with God that changed their lives and use that moment as the major credential for their faith, but it seems impossible to help them to understand that every day can be an experience with the Lord! There are others, of course, who hear the teaching, listen to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit but somehow it passes them by, they do not make progress on the journey of faith. Others are hung up on particular doctrines or their allegiance to a way of thinking and cannot expand their horizons to embrace new truth or fresh encouragement from the Word of God. 

It is impossible to argue with the writer of Hebrews who expresses similar frustrations, especially when he can identify those who, by now, should themselves be teachers of the Word. Some of us get a bit bored with repeating the same old stuff and then facing criticism when we diverge into new pastures and the “sheep” complain that it is too hard for them to understand! Imagine how frustrating it would be for parents to battle daily with their children about expanding their diets and moving on from pasta and yogurt! And that is exactly the scenario painted here, the author is equally exasperated with some in his flock who will only take the milk of the Word and have no desire for solid food. Chapter 6:1-2 will give us some of the ingredients of a milky spiritual diet, in truth many of these doctrines are not taught in some churches and in other places there will be those who flee in horror when such Scriptures are explained!  This is a good moment to stop and look at our own spiritual diets and also to reflect on the intake of any who are under our care. Our task is to bring them to maturity and to invest them with the same love for spiritual food that we enjoy ourselves. 

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