Press on to maturity

Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. In chapters 1–5, the author had been teaching the elementary or beginning things about Jesus Christ. We have been encouraged by them since July 17. After reproving his readers that they should by this time in their journey with Jesus be more mature, he decided to urge them to move on into maturity. Let’s remember from Heb. 5:14 what maturity looks like. Mature believers have been trained by God through their circumstances and relationships to discern good and evil. Their senses, meaning their “organ of perception,” (I think this refers to their minds), have been trained to discern how God can accomplish good in all circumstances. Since they know God and practice drawing near to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ, they receive grace in time of need. From God’s throne of grace, they get God’s perspective of things. They learn, by practice, to think like Jesus thinks and look at things from His perspective.  I’ve repeated His perspective many times, and it is no trouble to do so again since it takes practice and repetition for us to become mature. Here’s the elementary teaching about Christ and what He believes. 1) There is only one God from whom are all things, and He is love. So that means the mature knows nothing happens that God’s love can’t be seen. 2) The love of the Father is enough. His love and will satisfy the deepest longings of my soul. For us, we believe Jesus’ love is enough and satisfies our soul’s deepest longings more than anything or anyone on earth. The mature learn this by practice. And Jesus’ perspective was, 3) God’s purpose in all things, even when He lets evil run its course, have its way, and have its hour, is to reveal the Father in and through Him and prepare Him for that great day of glory. From our perspective, we believe God’s purpose in all things is to reveal His Son in and through us and prepare us for that great day of glory. This perspective practiced daily in every circumstance and relationship makes us mature. It’s a process that takes first the training of our organ of perception (our minds, which is why I keep repeating the three foundational worldview truths) and then second, the repeated application.  The author said it was time for his readers to move on from thinking relationship with God is all about religious knowledge. Yes, knowledge is important. Knowing these three truths is important. They are elementary. What brings us to maturity is practicing them in real life. That’s what living to love with Jesus is all about—practicing what we believe on a daily, moment-by-moment basis. We believe that without the life of Jesus, all our works are dead. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We believe Jesus lives, and our faith is from His life and is always directed toward God. Today, God will give us more practice and opportunities to apply what we say we believe. We press on to maturity when we live to love with Jesus and put our faith to work for the glory of God.