Grow UP Part 1: Solid Food--Obedience
Grow UP Part 1: Solid Food--Obedience
The task of the disciple is to Grow Deep in one’s
relationship with the Lord, to Grow Up in the faith, and to Grow Fruit that
God’s love can reach others. We’ve spent some time considering issues relating
to growing deeper in one’s relationship with God. We’ll consider growing up
next. The verses of scripture informing this
series of teachings are Hebrews 6:1-3—
Hebrews 6:1-3 (NIV)
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings
about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms,
the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And
God permitting, we will do so.
Today we are going to figure out why for is the, therefore,
therefore? What some of these elementary
teachings are, then I want to delve into what solid spiritual food is.
We are to grow up, to go on to maturity in our
faith. Now the, therefore, means we need
to look at what is written before to create the context for understanding what
is being said now. Therefore is a conclusion. So we need to go back a bit.
Hebrews 5:7-8 (NIV)
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he
offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could
save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.
Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered. We
naturally want to avoid suffering. I think you might be in need of the therapy that
can be discovered in God’s forgiveness if you want to suffer, guilt might be
driving your self-punishing behaviors. Jesus didn’t want to suffer (Matthew
26:39). I’ve made my own prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears, you
do that when you are in the midst of suffering. When the situations of life
have become distressful, miserable and then moved on into agonizing, you learn
all about prayers, petitions with loud cries and tears. We know from the life
of Jesus that His loving Heavenly Father did not deliver His one and only son
from the situations and circumstances of life that drove Jesus to ask for
escape. Suffering taught Jesus something important. It’s a lesson in maturity.
Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV)
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to
explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought
to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's
word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk,
being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves
to distinguish good from evil.
Don’t worry we’ll come back quickly to suffering’s
lesson in maturity. What the author writes here is rather harsh. It’s a rebuke
that the believers have become sluggish and apathetic in their spiritual
growth. After all this time you still need to be spoon fed. Some time ago you
acknowledged your need for a savior; you believed that Jesus is the savior you
need; you committed yourself to be Jesus’
disciple, and you asked God to save you.
You learned about faith, the forgiveness
of sin, you learned about baptism participating in that ritual symbolizing
death to the old way of life and resurrection into the new way of life. You’ve
been taught about life eternal and the judgment.
But you’re not self- feeding, you’re not reproducing, you’re not growing up. The result is that you are still child-like and
you are easily deceived, you lack discernment, you still need someone to tell
you what is good and what is evil, what is spiritually authentic and what is
spiritually counterfeit, what is permissible conduct for a believer and what is
forbidden behavior. When they do you ignore their wisdom. Perpetual infancy is
a problem. The solution is to grow up.
The scripture reveals that Jesus learned obedience
from his times of suffering. Jesus told everyone that what is most important is
to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength--Matthew 22:37. This is what I have discovered about what
suffering teaches you when it comes to obeying this command to love God.
There’s a premarital counseling book entitled “After
Every Wedding Comes a Marriage.” At the wedding it’s easy to say, for richer
for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, forsaking all
others, you’re in love, you mean it, you make the vow, give your word, put your
honor on the line. But going off happily ever after—well those you have been
happily married, 10, 20, 30 years will tell you “married life is good, but it
has its difficulties.” Marriage, as in life, has it’s challenges, difficulties,
problems, and sometimes if not overcome “I Got You Babe,” turns into “I Didn’t Sign
Up For This.” A good marriage is all about relationship, (imagine that) and
relationships are hard work; for many, it is a
joyful hard work, but hard work
nonetheless.
When things are good, when things are normal, its
easy to love God. You feel blessed, your life is
well. There is a future before you. When
you are thriving it’s easy to say, I love Lord; it’s easy to say I am a
disciple of Jesus. We sing our praise songs about how good God is, how God
answers prayer, how God delivers, and we go our merry way.
When things suddenly turn bad, when your
devastated, depressed, in despair; when your prayers don’t get the speedy
answer you hoped when what you so
desperately wanted, needed, has passed its
expiration date. When the cup doesn’t pass from you—Do you still love God?
Becoming mature means your love for God is not
based on the blessings you have received and the blessings you hope for. Remember
our definition of love when it's directed to God?
1 John 5:2-3 (MSG)
Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof
that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all
troublesome.
You are growing up when you keep God’s commands
even when you feel God has deserted you.
The scripture reveals our God is a jealous God.
Ex 34:14 (MSG)
Don't worship any other god. [Yahweh]—his name is
The-Jealous-One—is a jealous God.
God’s jealousy is not like our jealousy, God wants you to love Him, not His gifts, not the joy He
bestows, not the peace He gives. Have you noticed that Celebrities tend to
marry other Celebrities; that the rich elite tend to marry within the rich
elite circle? Have you ever wondered why? Let me offer a hypothesis. If I am a
man of means, I have fame, fortune and everything that goes with it, how do I
know that gal I met at the coffee shop who works at Walmart, really loves me,
or loves what she can get from me? Is her interest in me really love or is it
self-interest? I love you for what you give me is not mature love. God, I will be totally devoted to you as long
as you are nice to me, give me what I want
when I want, the way I want.
When you suffer, all you have to cling to is God and God
alone. I have gotten angry with God in my own immaturity when God was seemingly
indifferent to my plight. “God, you can do anything!” God, the scripture tells
me you love me!” “Why don’t you deliver me from my pain?” “Where are you in my
grief, why did you allow this, why no miracle?” “Why are you silent?”
What did I learn? I am pretty certain God did not send the
suffering, allow the suffering, or cause the suffering. Scripture says, at
least in the Boswith paraphrased version—Good things happen, bad things happen
on the righteous and the unrighteous, good weather and bad weather happen on
the just and the unjust, happiness and heartache
happen to the saint and the sinner.
That’s my version of Matthew 5:45. Suffering happens because we broke
the world we live in. That’s one lesson—God didn’t do this to me, to my loved
one, so I would mature. God takes the bad thing and works to bring good things
out of it, God works to redeem the suffering.
Most importantly what I learned was obedience. I am to love
God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, even in the darkest of nights,
even in the midst of catastrophe, even when the cup does not pass. I can curse
God and die or I can say blessed is the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). I know obedience is the best option. Love God for who God is, not for what He can
provide.
God’s grace held me close in my time of ranting, raving and complaining when I was pounding on heaven’s
door demanding answers, and He grew me up by letting this truth be revealed to
me. “Mike you loved me for all the gifts I have given you, now, love me for who
I am.” That love is demonstrated in that you obey, even when there seem to be no blessings coming your way.
It’s when you obey that you can begin to distinguish God’s
stealthy footsteps behind the scenes. It can take time. It doesn’t resolve the
situation. But there is an encouragement to keep on in the faith even when a
preponderance of evidence suggests your faith is misplaced. The solid spiritual
food you need to grow up is found in obedience.
--Blessings by Laura Story [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd6J6Wgnv4M
]
“… Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go
on to maturity…”
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