“Although by this time, you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness because he is an infant, but solid food is for the mature, for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.”
– Hebrews 5:12–14
This is, in a sense, in the book of Hebrews, a rebuke to those who should be mature in their faith, mature in their understanding of God’s word, but who still drink milk like an infant in faith. I read this, and I’m compelled to pray for maturity in my life and my family and the people around me and the church that I’m part of and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And I want to be and I want to grow in maturity. I want to help others grow in maturity, and I would just encourage you in your life to grow in maturity.
We cannot be content to drink spiritual milk like infants and not grow in our feasting on God’s Word.
Hebrews 5:12–14 Challenges Us to Feast on God’s Word
So many, I fear so many followers of Christ are content just to drink spiritual milk like infants in the faith for far too long when that’s not God’s design for us. Yes, there’s a time for being an infant, but we’re not supposed to stay there. There’s a time for drinking milk, but we’re supposed to grow in our taking in of solid food.
I want to encourage you to feast, to not be content with spiritual milk, but to grow in eating steaks, glorious steaks, really, really good, fine food in God’s word. Don’t be content with living in infancy. Pray for maturity, growing maturity in your faith day after day after day.
This Verse Helps Us to Grow in Prayer
God, we ask for this. Lord, help us to grow. I pray for this in my own life. Help me to grow in greater and greater ways and understanding your word and walking with you. I pray for this in my life. I pray for this in my family, in my wife, in my kids. God, I pray for this in the church that I’m part of. God, I pray for this in others who are listening to this right now, God.
I know that some are new followers of Christ. God, I pray that they would progress from the milk of your word to maturity in your word swiftly. I pray for those who may have been followers of Christ for a long time, but are still drinking the milk of your word. God, I pray that you would bring them to maturity, to greater and greater maturity. God, help us not to be content with infancy in any ways in our faith. Help us to grow toward maturity, that we might know you more fully and be used of you mightily for your glory. Oh, God, may it be so in my life and each of our lives. We pray, help us to experience maturity in you. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
