Arrested Development

Hebrews 5:12-14 You need milk, not solid food . . . But solid food is for the mature . . .

With my kids in high school, I am frequently reminded that their time under my roof is drawing short. Though this saddens me, I am happy they will someday leave, not because I want them gone, but because I want to see them grow. As much as I love them, I do not want them to be children forever. It would be heartbreaking if they suddenly stopped developing.

The author of Hebrews echoed this same sentiment in today’s passage where he chastised his spiritual children for remaining in a state of infancy. They had been given the nourishment required for growth, but they did not take it in and thus remained in a state of arrested development.

I imagine God has often felt the same about me. Just as I must continually take in physical nourishment, I must continually take in spiritual nourishment to mature in my faith. I have, for years though, existed in a state of spiritual starvation, taking in little or no sustenance. Then, I wondered why I was still an infant, enslaved to my appetites, wallowing in my own filth.

I rarely miss a meal. It would do me well to adopt this same attitude about my faith. I must discipline myself to get up every morning and fill myself with God, or, by default, I will starve myself spiritually and continue on in my state of arrested development.

What is it that stunts my growth? Why do I not continually fill myself with God? It is because I try to satisfy myself with the immediate gratification found in my flesh nature. Instead of pursuing joy, purpose and meaning in God, I attempt to take the short cut to pleasure with food, entertainment, money, affirmation, and the desires of my flesh.

If I want to grow spiritually, I must continually fill myself with God. I cannot fill myself with the world and expect to grow my faith.