Grow Up

Morning Dew

 

Key Passage: Hebrews 5: 11- 6:2

Key Word: Hebrew 6:1 – “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity”

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It would be a complete freak of nature if a baby is born and they are still in the exact same state, twenty years after. I mean not due to any disability issues, just refused to grow. They are still breastfeeding, still needing to wear nappies, still crying at the slightest inconvenience, having to be rocked to sleep and winded after every meal etc etc.  This would be absurd and absolutely bizarre.

But this is exactly the state of some Christians. They believed in the Lord Jesus Christ many years ago, but they just refuse to grow up. They are still babies, drinking milk and waiting to be pampered over every little thing. They are Christian in belief, but heathen by actions. They have not repented and they have not changed. There is no fruit of God in their lives. Honestly, it is not my desire to be harsh today, but I am constrained to ask the question and raise the issue. When would you grow up? There is a life of great adventure waiting for you, if you just decide to grow up.

There is a difference between a believer in Christ and a follower of Christ. There is a difference between a baby and an adult. Babies have no responsibilities, adults have. A believer in Christ is simply just that. Nothing-extraordinary. James tells us that the devil and his demons also believe in God and they tremble. So you have the Christian label, but does your life reflect Christ? Do you still have uncontrolled temper? Do you still live a hedonistic life? Are you still a lover of the world and full of worldly ambitions. Do you just attend church every Sunday and never engage in the work of God? Are you subject to the word of God or you still feel God’s word is just one of the opinions out there to consider? Is you life about you or is about Christ? Let me simply say, that a believer in Jesus is not necessarily a follower of Jesus Christ. A believer in Jesus does not mean they are disciples of Jesus.

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits”

Today’s passage is an indictment on the overgrown babies of the church. They ought to be discipling others, teaching and caring for other young believers, but they still want to be fed with the milk of the word and are dull of hearing.

There is one fact we all need to know today. To grow in Christ, you have to start doing. Our faith is an experiential faith. We prove God by what we do. We show the world that we are who we say we are by what we do. The more you practice your faith the more you have experiences that make you grow. If you sit down in church every Sunday and all you do is hear sermons and you don’t do anything for the Lord and His Kingdom, you will not grow. No matter how many doctrines you know and how many scriptures you have learnt, it will be of no profit to you, if you do not get up and start to practice what you have heard. Our faith is a doing faith.

Let me encourage you to grow up. Start today putting your faith into action. Start serving others, start sharing the message; start being kind; start sacrificing your comfort for the Kingdom. Start doing. Start being a real Christian and stop being a baby.

The bible says, faith without works is dead. And Jesus said if you love me you would obey my commandments. He said we should let our lights so shine before men, so they can see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

I am not sure how many of you this word applies to, but I am sure like I have discovered in my life, we can all still grow in the Lord. 

 

Let us pray: Father thank you for your call to grow up and live the truth. I pray that you will allow me to be challenged by your Holy Spirit in every area of my life where I have remained a baby. Father I want to grow and grow up, give the grace to start practising my faith in Jesus name. Amen.

 

 

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