Bible Passage:  Hebrews 5

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s words all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teachings of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil…

Hebrews 5: 12-14

Remember when you were a baby? Ah, who am I kidding? You most probably won’t…

Or rather, remember seeing some baby, whether it’s your child, nephew, niece or a friend’s baby you saw growing up? Remember when they could only drink milk and eat baby formula? We all know that they could only eat those things due to quite a myriad of reasons. Babies don’t have the teeth to chew on solid foods, their digestive tract might not be able to take in those foods and they might not be able to swallow solids, just to name a few.

It is only after they grow up to become physically more developed that they can begin to eat more solid foods. Only then will their bodies be ready to take in these kinds of foodstuff.

This concept is not just applicable to the aspects of our physical bodies…

Infants in the Faith

When it come to our faith, the Bible describes one who is not familiar or well-grounded in the teachings of God as being an infant, one who still needs milk. And these verses in Hebrews were not the only ones that gave this description.

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready…

1 Corinthians 3: 1-2

In his first letter to the Corinth church, Paul lamented that the members there were still very worldly and likened them to being “mere infants in Christ”. And because they were just babies in his eyes, he did not think that they were ready for the deeper teachings of Christ. He knew that if he were to give them solid food, they would not be able to understand them, like a baby being unable to chew on solids or digest them, because their faith had not passed the infancy stage.

Likewise, for us, if we have been believers for at least some time, but our level of faith remains stagnant since the beginning or had deteriorated, we won’t be able to take in more of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

A baby’s body needs to develop to take in solid foods, so that the baby will be able to grow up and face the new physical and mental challenges that he/she will be facing as the days go by.

A Christian needs to develop in the faith to take in the teachings of Christ, so that he/she will be able to stand strong and not waver in the face of trials and temptations.

The world is getting more evil and the challenges in the faith are getting more difficult. If we do not grow up in our faith and become adults, how then can we take in solid food that we need and not fall to the wiles of the devil?

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness…

Colossians 2: 6-7

May we all continue to grow to become more matured in the faith, to learn more of the teachings in the Bible, and to become more spiritually capable…

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