“And this we will do if God permits.”

We are put on notice. What comes next is going to move us up the ladder of understanding. The Hebrews writer is determined that we leave the basics behind and get into some deeper knowledge. He is going to lead us out of the elementary and on to maturity. We should be happy about this, but we may not be because we have been in elementary school for so long that we are afraid of moving up to middle school. Moving to maturity means work. It will take effort and time on our part. Many Christians would rather sit in the pew and listen to the same basic teaching they have heard over and over for years.

In the sixty years I have been teaching Bible classes I have been amazed at the number of Christians who never put any effort into preparing for the class. Never followed up on what they heard and in most cases were not sure where the study was going in the future. Like many of you, I heard someone say, “It means what it says, read on.” That was the easy way to handle a move to maturity. In addition, many churches would rather talk about what others are doing than learn and be challenged in their own walk.

Task for Today: Don’t take the laid back approach to learning about God and what He desires of you. Studying the scripture is as much your responsibility as it is the preacher or Bible class teacher. Today, begin preparations for the next class time or preaching session. After those are over study to see if you were accurately taught. This is very important. There are false teachers in the world and to know them, you must know the mature things of Christ. Replace your daily reading with daily studying.