October 16 – Hebrews 5:11-14. Lit Up With Learning.

October 16 – Hebrews 5:11-14. Lit Up With Learning.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 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.

Just about the time the author was ready to launch into a lecture on Jesus as the high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he interrupts himself and talks to his listeners about their responsibility to grow and mature in their faith.

There is every possibility that he knows there is a lot of information about to come and if they are still stuck in the beginning pages of the story, they aren’t going to get it.

It is exciting to watch young minds learn.  I suppose that is why elementary teachers love their jobs so much.  One evening, long ago (the kid has graduated from college by now), I sat with a friend’s son as he was working on understanding math concepts.  He was about five years old.  I talked with him and watched him make the leap in his understanding of counting by tens and then into hundreds.  He grasped the concept quickly and I saw his eyes light up with excitement.  He got the process of numbers right there in front of me.  I wanted to weep with joy at being given a chance to experience that with him.

This might be the reason I love teaching scripture.  There are so many foundational, fundamental concepts that are present within scripture.  They define our lives and push us forward in faith.  Without them, we will stay the same … in the same place, living the same lives, doing the same things … messing up and never achieving anything greater than who we were yesterday.

The author of Hebrews desperately wants to see his readers move on – to see their eyes light up as they stand firm on the foundation of Christ’s teaching and can begin to understanding the deeper things of our faith.