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God meant for us to grow in our spiritual lives. In any kind of human relationships, it is never the correct way to just remain the same all the time. In our daily lives and work situations, we continually seek personal growth and development. In the same way, we are expected and should desire to grow in our knowledge of Jesus and our relationship with Him. Even though there is a fine line between knowing all about Him and knowing Him, God told us to love Him with all our hearts, minds and souls. Hence, we are to love our God with our intellectual mind too and to know the fundamental truths of faith (from the Bible) and building on the multi-faceted characteristics of God to help us know Him better. After which, we are also told to make disciples of all nations.
In Hebrews 5:11-14, the writer suggests that Jewish Christians seemed to be immature and not being able to teach others. They were not sure about the fundamental truths of faith themselves. They were still caught up in traditions and rituals and discussions of basics of faith among themselves rather than growing in Jesus in applying the truths of faith and teaching others to apply them too.
How do we grow in Jesus? The Bible teaches that we mature by constant application of what we have learnt and by training ourselves to discern good from evil. Regularly we attend our church services to hear the Word of God taught to us. However, if we do not reflect upon the teaching and live it out in our lives, is there any difference with the people who have never heard the sermons we heard? This must be a reminder to all of us that knowing Jesus and his Word are supposed to transform our lives. His radical story demands a radical response from us that will make changes in our lives.
Test yourself by asking these questions: can you recognise temptation before it traps you, can you tell if the Bible verses have been misused and can you use the Word taught to encourage, challenge and even rebuke others in love? As you live your lives and grow in your spiritual walk, practise using what you have learnt from these Bible teachings during the rest of the week. You are assured that with constant use of God’s Word, you will grow in maturity and your capacity to understand deeper things of God will increase as God determines.
