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by Ami Samuels

In Hebrews 5:13-14 it says, “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.”

When I first became a Christian (twenty plus years ago) my husband and I had a wonderful pastor. He was a Godly man who taught wonderful messages every Sunday morning. We also had the privilege to attend Sunday school class with him. He was not only our pastor but our friend. He married us, was there for the birth of our children, and was a mentor to my husband. God had placed the perfect person in our lives at that time to nurture and teach us the Bible and how to grow in our faith walk.

We learned the true meaning of Hebrews 5:13-14 when our pastor announced that God was calling him to move on to another position. At first we were heartbroken that our pastor and friend would be leaving, but we had to respect and support his decision. A few months after he left, I remember having a conversation with a close friend and sharing with her that, “We need to take what he has been teaching us and apply it in our own lives. We were spoon fed for a while and now it is time to feed ourselves.”

What we watched unfold after he departed was that some of the congregation took his teaching and applied it by developing their own personal relationship with the Lord. These people pursued a daily relationship with God through Bible study and prayer. But we also saw several marriages dissolve, people fall away from the church, and friendships become severed.

This is why I speak so passionately about building our own personal relationship with the Lord. Life changes, people pass away, we may relocate, pastors move on. We need to maintain our personal walk with the Lord no matter what happens in life.

It is certainly important to be taught by others, but our personal relationship is our own and we need to be able to feed ourselves. We won’t get into heaven on our pastor’s faith, or our mother or father’s relationship with the Lord; we are to learn from others and develop our own daily walk with God.

Picture a young toddler in his high chair pounding on his tray, crying out, “Feed me, feed me, feed me, serve me, meet my needs, entertain me!” As we see the progression of a human being go from infant to toddler, from toddler to school age, on and on into adult hood, in each stage there is growth and maturity. This process keeps progressing until the person can take care of themselves.

Don’t get stuck in the spiritual high chair of Christianity, where we are continually depending on others to feed our spirit. As Christians we need to be continually growing and maturing in our faith. It is important to open our Bibles and spend time in prayer, growing our faith and building our relationship with the Lord on a daily basis and learning to spiritually feed ourselves.

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