Bible Reading:1 Peter 2:1-5
2 1-3 So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.
4-5 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
Bible Reading: Hebrews 5:11-6:3
11-14 I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.
6 1-3 So come on, let’s leave the preschool finger painting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!
Bible Reading: 2 Peter 3:18
17-18 But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
What’s it all about?
When we first become a Christian, we’ve a lot to learn, and it can seem like an impossible ladder to climb. But it’s anything but boring in the minimum-wage mailroom of Christian maturity, for at least two reasons:
- Satan, otherwise known as the enemy, knows that as a new Christian, you’re on fire for God, but you’re very vulnerable to a relapse into sinful behaviour. When you first become a Christian, or when you’re growing into new areas of maturity, then you’re more likely to face more intense temptation or “attack from the enemy”.
- On the other hand, God promises steady advancement if you’re willing to put the work in – that means reading the Bible, fellowshipping with other Christians and generally trying to do everything you possibly can to grow in your faith. You will also find that blessings are more abundant when you are starting out, and when you are putting in the hours into your development into Christian maturity.