“For though by time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food.”

This is quite the putdown. A shaming of sorts. Sometimes when we are off on the wrong foot, we need to be set straight. That’s what our writer is doing. He is surprised or at the most dismayed to learn that his target audience has not progressed in the Word as they should have.

Had they been diligent in their study and application of the scriptures, they would have progressed to the point where they could share the good news with others. The fact is that even the most basic information needed to be retaught them.

How disappointing it would be as a parent to have a baby mature in an older child and still want mill toast and pureed food. A sign of maturity is the desire and the ability to eat solid food, and parents push their children to obtain that goal as they are able. Here we have spiritual children who have remained in the baby class. When they should be teachers of infants themselves, they still need to repeat the basics.

“You need milk, not solid food,” is not a compliment. When we have been studying the Bible for years and still can’t separate the basic points from the deeper ones, it is a sign that we are either not able to learn or we are too lazy. I think his warning to the Hebrews is more in the lazy department. As Christians today, we ought to be ashamed if after years of “church-going,” we still are unable to teach others.

Task for Today: Are you on milk or meat? Make a determination to qualify yourself as a teacher of children in the faith. You are told to study that you might be approved. If you find yourself guilty of Hebrews 5:12, you know you are not up for approval. If you are a Christian, you are called upon to grow in the Word so that you can instruct others. If you aren’t there, then determine today that you will get there and soon.