Moving On ...To Maturity (Intro to Building Blocks)

Sept. 6

Read: 1 Cor. 14:20, Hebrews 6:1,2

Moving On

“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.”

(1 Cor. 14:20)

Have you ever felt like you keep hearing the same thing over and over again? Particularly within God’s people, is it like re-treading the same ground time after time? Sometimes it almost seems like we celebrate this notion… like it is a badge of honor week after week to hear the same elementary teachings. Why is this? There is a lot to be said regarding the idea of “maturity” within the word of God. God is calling his children to grow in “wisdom, stature, and favor with the Lord” in the same way that Christ did! (cf. Luke 2:40) Look at this passage from Hebrews:

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” (Heb. 6:1-2)

Are you “stuck” on the elementary things? Is it time to move forward? These elementary thing DO NOT become unimportant or untrue, but are we designed to remain in a “loop” with the elementary? I don’t think so. Maybe this is why so many of God’s people become frustrated, disenfranchised, bored, or start to feel like it is “pointless” sometimes. We were designed by God to GROW in our relationship with him… he has gifted us as his people with the tools to “grow up” and mature:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:12-13)

God is stopping at nothing short of “full maturity” and the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”. The goal is not an endless merry-go-round of the same basic, rudimentary, surface level and trite comments. The goal is MATURITY. The goal is GROWTH. The goal is entering into the FULLNESS OF CHRIST. This is what God wants. Are you ready to move forward? Is this what you are interested in as well? Over the next few devotions, I want us to look at some of these “elementary doctrines” so we have a firm foundation and then are ready to MOVE ON into greater maturity and build upon this foundation we have been given in Christ. (cf. 1 Cor. 3) Here is a bit of encouraging news: Life in Christ is not designed to be monotonous, boring, or rote. It is quite the opposite. Maybe it is a tactic of the enemy who wars against God Most High to keep the people of God stagnant, immature, and stuck in the “same ol’ same old”? It is ok to be a “child” when it comes to sinning… but it is not ok to remain childish as a follower and warrior for Christ. (cf. above, 1 Cor. 14:20) Love you guys. - JDP