But strong meat belongeth to them that are of a full age, even those who by reason of use have exercised their senses to discern both good and evil. (Heb. 5:14)
What does "that" mean, and what is its importance to my Christian life?
First of all, and simply put, this scripture is saying that in our spiritual lives, (just as it is in our natural lives), it takes time and experience to recognize the sometimes subtle difference between good and evil, truth and error.
But why would it take so long and take so much experience to know the difference? Isn't truth and error, good and evil fairly easy to discern? Apparently it's not. Along with the scripture that I opened with, consider a another verse, one that may be familiar to you.
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Pr. 14:12)
Now how can a way that is actually leading to death and destruction seem right? Simple, it's just not as easily discernable as we might think. Deception can be very deceiving. And as my opening scripture from Hebrews shows, this problem becomes even more relevant and more pronounced when spiritual, (and natural) truths become complex and of "strong meat."
When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, not only did death enter man's life (both physical and spiritual), but darkness came as well. Remember Jesus saying, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." That is, without Christ in our lives, we will have no perception of the kingdom of God at all; in short, spiritual darkness; thus darkness of the fullness of reality and a serious handicap. And sadly, this darkness will affect our lives even after we become believers. We continually need more and more light to see deeper and deeper truths.
That is why we need each other, and more importantly, why we need the Lord. Jesus knows the way things really are and he came to bring the light of these things into a darkened world. In fact, he said that he was the "light of the world," and that if we followed him; we would "not walk in darkness, but would have the light of life." (Jn. 8:12) Wow! That sounds pretty important to me, and it is. The better we comprehend Jesus and his word, the better our clarity and perception of life itself and how life works.
The bible says that "the entrance of thy word giveth light..." (Ps. 119:130)
The more of God's word we have in our hearts and the better we understand it, the clearer everything in our lives will become. Simply put, this is a very practical way of getting smarter and is intended to be so. God is very practical and he offers us his Son and his Word to enhance and enlighten our lives in a practical way, offering us restoration of what we lost through sin. It is now up to us to take the time and put forth the effort to learn about Jesus and to study his word.
Thanks to an invitation by Boyce Watkins, I have the opportunity to contribute to this blog, so in the future articles that I present, I would like to share with those interested some biblical principles and insights that I hope will be challenging and that will help exercise and sharpen our spiritual faculities so we can more and more discern good from evil and truth from error. Some of what I share may be new to you; and some may not. That really doesn't matter. It is the exercise and sharpening of our skill in recognizing the truth that does.
Truth is reality and the clearer our perception of truth, the clearer our perception of reality, making it easier to be successful in every area of our lives. And of course, the clearer our perception of truth, the easier it will be to recognize error, no matter how subtle or deceiving it may be.
Posted by John B. Agati
Author of a new book entitled, "Suffering, (God's Will?)
More information about this and an upcoming book, "Suffering, Unanswered Prayer, (And How To Fix The Whole Thing)" along with a short bio may be found at: http://www.jbagati.com/
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