God’s primary path for our growth
Each of us has seen this before – someone has all the raw talent in the world, but they fail to reach their full potential. And what is the typical cause? Because they didn’t put in the work.
Examples are easily found in sports. We see someone who dominates in high school, is the best athlete on the field in college, but then, when they get to the pros…they quickly flame out. Their natural abilities can take them only so far, but at some point, they need to combine their giftedness with a dedication to learning and developing. While a few of these late-to-realize athletes may figure it out and course correct to achieve an average-to-good career, most others simply fall to the wayside, leaving a legacy of what-could-have-been.
We know of similar stories in academia and other careers. Perhaps you’ve even lived this yourself. Early successes can fool us into thinking we’ll always be at the top of our game, but as the road gets tougher…we’re challenged with the realization that the amount of effort and knowledge that got us to this point won’t necessarily be enough to take us further on.
That’s when these hard lessons need to be learned:
· You don’t know what you don’t know.
· You gotta learn that you gotta learn.
· It takes maturity to realize that you need to mature.
· You have to practice at practicing.
The problem? We don’t always realize these are the lessons we need, or, worse yet, we fight against them. We get stubborn and keep doing things the way we’ve always done it, simply because it’s worked for us in the past. But when we stubbornly stagnate, we miss out on fulfilling our potential, and we forfeit opportunities that could have been ours.
You may not realize it, but we can stagnate the same way in our spiritual growth, too. In fact, the author of the book of Hebrews warned his readers about this. They had not progressed as they could have…as they should have…and they were living through the consequences of their stubborn choices:
Hebrews 5:11-14
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 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.
They didn’t know about living with righteousness (which means to be living rightly before God) because they weren’t ready for it. They had trouble making wise choices and difficulty telling the difference between good and evil because they rejected being trained to do so.
He includes a painful critique – though by this time you ought to be teachers. The readers had no excuse. They had the talent. They had the opportunity. They had the resources. They had ample time. But up to this point…they have squandered it all. And they are struggling because of it.
But the author says they still have a way out of their immaturity, and it is a two-step process:
1. they need to start with God’s word
2. they need to be trained…by constant use, i.e. – they need to practice
You and I mature by taking these same steps. Are we engaging God through His word and putting what He teaches us into practice? God is willing to walk us down this path of growth and maturity, but we have to meet Him there. Don’t be a stubborn infant, like the original recipients of Hebrews. Don’t be slow to learn. It’s time to mature.
Keep Pressing,
Ken