April 2 - Milk or More?
April 2
Milk or More?
Bible Reading: Hebrews 5:12-14
12You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures. You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. 13For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
MOST THINGS IN life go in a certain order. Babies crawl before they walk and drink milk before they eat solid food. Little kids ride a bike with training wheels before they take off on a two-wheeler. Teens get a temporary driver's permit that allows them to drive with an adult before they're allowed to drive on their own.
The Christian life goes in a certain order, too. When we're newborn Christians, we need to master the basics: knowing our own sinfulness; needing God's forgiveness and love through the gift of his Son, Jesus; desiring to forgive others. As we grow in Christ, the lessons we learn go deeper as we face the day-to-day decisions between right and wrong.
"Do I cheat on a test to get the grade I need so I can go on the youth group work project this weekend?"
"Do I lie to my parents and tell them my homework is finished so I can go to a concert tonight?"
"Do I throw food at my baby sister because she stuck out her tongue at me?"
OK, so maybe the last one's too easy. But the point is, all those opportunities to choose right or wrong are more than opportunities to choose right or wrong--they're opportunities to train yourself to make right choices. Not just now but when you get older. By making good decisions now (when the choice is "Do I stomp my kid brother into a bloody pulp because I'm in a bad mood or show him Christian love and mercy?"), you prepare yourself to make good decisions when the choices are tougher and more complex ("Do I control my raging hormones with my date or give in and see what happens?").
If you don't train yourself in making right choices, you will have a harder time of it later, when the stakes are higher and the consequences are greater! Every good decision you make now trains you for the harder decisions that are sure to come your way down the line. The more you train by making good choices, the more equipped you will be to make good decisions later on.
REFLECT: Think back on the choices you've made this past week. Do you think they've equipped you to make right choices in the future? Have you made the right choice when the choices were easy? Have you made the right choice when the choices were hard? Which do you think "trains" you better for the future--hard choices or easy choices?
PRAY: "Lord, with Your help I know I can make good decisions. With Your guidance, I know I can choose right over wrong. Be my strength, Lord, when I am weak."