KEEP GROWING BY THE WORD - PASTOR CHRIS OYAKHILOME

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe (Hebrews 5:13).

Hebrews 5:12 says, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” Growing up spiritually requires that you feed on God’s Word, for the Word is meat (spiritual food) indeed. 1 Peter 2:2 affirms this; it says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”

There was a time when you lived off milk as a child, but you got to a stage when you had to stop relying on only milk for nourishment. That’s how it is with God’s Word. You start with the sincere milk (the simple truth) of the Word, but you don’t remain there; you progress to the “strong meat” of the Word. Strong meat is for those who are of full age; they’ve come to maturity in Christ (Hebrews 5:14).

For example, to the spiritual babe, we may say, “God is going to heal you”; that’s because he’s unskilled in the Word of righteousness. The spiritually matured knows better; he lives in divine health; he’s not “waiting” on God for healing. He knows how to use the Word, and live in the Word. He uses the Word to subdue circumstances and prevail against adversities.

Become mature in the things of the Spirit and in the Kingdom of God; that’s God’s dream for you. He said in Ephesians 4:13, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” True spiritual maturity is yielding yourself to be trained by the Word of God, and living above the senses. To remain a baby spiritually is to cheat oneself and not enjoy God’s best.

The Bible says, “...the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all” (Galatians 4:1). This simply means the one who’s spiritually immature can’t walk in his inheritance, his rights and privileges in Christ. So, keep growing in, and by the Word, and enjoy the greater glories and treasures of Christ.