Focus: Let's Make Progress!

Text: Heb.6:1,3

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection… And this will we do, if God permit."

Basics are basic. We cannot afford to do without the basics. But once the basics are in place, then the next thing is to build upon the basics and advance from there. No one lays a foundation to a building, and then regards the foundation as the whole building.

A child once fell down from the bed. The mother asked her what happened, and she said, "Mom, I guess I was too close from where I entered." That is exactly what the issue is about with us. We are too close from where we entered. Some of us are old in the faith, but in spirituality we have yet to advance. Spiritually speaking, many are suffering from arrested development. It is a tragedy to see a child who is incapable of growth. Imagine an adult having the shape and size of an infant! 

Can we get a little deeper and move a bit farther? For many of us, we are yet to move further away from where we started in our faith journey. We are yet to advance from our starting point. We seem to be marking time rather than maturing with time. Like the children of Israel in their wilderness journey, we are still running in circles, making no progress. A lot of us are stuck in the place where we started our spiritual journey. Moses said to Israel, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward" (Dt.2:3). Imagine rigmaroling in the desert for a whole forty years, a journey that could have been done in eleven days!

One thing the devil hates is to see a Christian going far in his spiritual walk with his God. Pharaoh said to Moses, "I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; ONLY YE SHALL NOT GO VERY FAR AWAY: intreat for me" (Ex.8:28). The enemy wants us to stay perpetually on milk and spend eternity in the kindergarten class of spirituality. Let us look at our text from The Message Bible: "So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ…" 

We can't afford to stay in one place of spiritual experience for the rest of our lives. The author of Hebrews says, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe" (Heb.5:12-13).

O Lord, help us! Child of God, let's grow up! Let's advance! Let's go forward! Let's mature! Let's deepen our relationship with God and improve our relationship with each other! Let's rise to higher ground in biblical spirituality! Let's do greater works! Let's hearken to Peter, who says, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen" (2Pet.3:18). Let's make progress!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter