Project 119: Hebrews 5:11-14

 |  Project 119  |  Mary Splawn

"Moving From Milk to Meat"

The image of transitioning from milk to solid food is very familiar for me this year because I have a nine-month-old daughter. As you can imagine, we’ve had many messes as our little one learns to swallow instead of spit!

Likewise, Christians often experience difficulty learning to digest the solid food of the disciplined Christian life! Sometimes we just don’t see the nutritional value that right living and thinking possess. But, just like infants, we must learn to eat solid food in order to grow.
What are some of the solid foods of Christian life? Here are a few suggestions: patience, purity of heart, trust in the midst of the unknown or suffering, commitment to the church body, discernment about how we spend time and money, love and grace for all people, and allegiance to Christ in all things.

Consider the different areas of your life. Are your actions in line with your beliefs? Do you invest your time and resources in growing strong in the faith? Are you maturing in your faith over time?

Remember that maturity is a process. My daughter didn’t go from milk to meat overnight. She started with purees, moved on to soft foods and then small chunks, and will one day move forward to biting off food for herself.

The same is true with our quest for Christian maturity. Through a series of devotional practices and steps in the right direction, we are able to distinguish good from evil and enjoy the joy of following Christ in word and deed.

Hebrews 5:11-14 (ESV):

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.