Hebrews Chapter 5: verses 11-14 (NIV)
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.
My niece when a little younger was very good at doing something I jokingly called “throwing a deafy.” By this I meant that when she was asked by one of her parents to do something that she didn’t really want to do, she would pretend not to hear what they said, or in other words ignore it. We might not admit to “throwing a deafy” at God, but I think that we have all been guilty of that at one time or another. The writer to the Hebrews seems to be inferring that his readers have chosen not to pay heed to some of the things that they were to be taught.
Walking persistently in the way that Christians should is not always easy, but choosing to ignore what we know is the right thing to do, doesn’t give us an excuse. The writer goes on to say that mature Christians have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. I think that means more than just knowing the difference, but acting on it. With so much controversy these days about what is right and wrong, even in pretty basic ways, we need to be sure that we keep on doing what we know to be right, and that may mean taking a stand instead of simply “throwing a deafy.”
In his own summary of today’s “Bible in One Year readings”, Nicky Gumbel observes that “Follow through requires hard work, patience and courage.” As Christians we need to make sure that we train ourselves to follow through everything God, through His Holy Spirit, is saying to us, and stop “throwing a deafy.”
Dear Lord,
I’m so grateful that You never give up on us and that where necessary You use our circumstances to grab our attention when we have not responded to You as we should. Help me to persist in doing what I know to be right, even if its something I would rather not do. The Bible talks about Jesus “resolutely setting His face towards Jerusalem” knowing it would be difficult to face, but He did that for me. Help me to be equally resolute in doing what is right. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.