Alistair Begg Devotional A Solid Diet

A Solid Diet

A Solid Diet

You have become dull of hearing … You need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature.

Imagine visiting your favorite restaurant and noticing that all the patrons are seated at their tables drinking milk from large baby bottles. What a bizarre scene that would be! Yet this is the picture that the writer of Hebrews painted when he urged the Jewish Christians of his day to remain hungry for greater and greater Christlikeness. He knew that many were already becoming complacent in their faith. Those who should have already been teachers instead needed to review their ABCs all over again.

The difficulty for these believers with understanding biblical principles resulted from neither any complex subject matter nor the writer’s inability to clearly explain. Rather, they were willfully slow to learn. When the author writes that they were “dull of hearing,” the word for “dull” is the same one he uses later when warning them not to be “sluggish” (Hebrews 6:12). There he exhorts his readers, instead of tolerating such a slothful attitude, to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Had these early Christians been dutiful souls who were listening carefully and trying hard to grasp biblical concepts, and simply having difficulty doing so, the writer likely would not have been so stern with them. But this wasn’t the case. He found himself reprimanding church members who should have been eagerly receiving the truth but had become apathetic. Their enthusiasm had waned. They had ceased to pay attention. As a result, they failed to understand, which prevented them from being further transformed by God’s truth.

If we are not vigilant, the same could become true of us. We cannot sustain ourselves on a diet of Rice Krispies, toast, and milk. It’s ok to like milk. It’s ok to have it as part of our diet. But it is not ok to drink it as the sum total of our intake. That is for babies, and we are not to stay babies. We must learn to eat more nutritious food and expand our palate.

Make it your goal to continually “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Peter 3:18), so that you can grapple with the implications of genuine Christian experience. Do not be someone who listens to the good news of the gospel being proclaimed and says in their mind, “Oh, I know that. I can tune out now.” Do not be someone who considers Sunday morning’s sermon sufficient spiritual food to last the week. Do not be someone who splashes in the shallows and never makes the effort to dive down deep into the riches of God’s word. Be someone who loves the gospel and who, by God’s grace, never grows tired of hearing it; and who loves God’s word—loves to drink it in and chew it over, and is stirred by its truth again and again as you become more and more like its great subject, our Lord and Savior.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

He

33gTeach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;

and I will keep it hto the end.6

34iGive me understanding, that I may keep your law

and observe it with my whole heart.

35jLead me in the path of your commandments,

for I kdelight in it.

36lIncline my heart to your testimonies,

and not to mselfish gain!

37nTurn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

and ogive me life in your ways.

38pConfirm to your servant your promise,

qthat you may be feared.

39Turn away the rreproach that I dread,

for your rules are good.

40Behold, I slong for your precepts;

tin your righteousness give me life!

Waw

41Let your usteadfast love come to me, O Lord,

your salvation vaccording to your promise;

42then wshall I have an answer for him rwho taunts me,

for I trust in your word.

43And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,

for my xhope is in your rules.

44I will keep your law continually,

forever and ever,

45and I shall walk yin a wide place,

for I have zsought your precepts.

46I will also speak of your testimonies abefore kings

and shall not be put to shame,

47for I bfind my delight in your commandments,

which I love.

48I will clift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,

and I will dmeditate on your statutes.

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Footnotes
6 119:33 Or keep it as my reward

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

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