City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, ² teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And we will do this if God permits.

Hebrews 6:1-3 (CSB)

Reflection

Most of us, unless you are still studying through college, have completed a degree or received certain training in a field of work. If you have over 10 years experience, some might call you an expert in the field of work, or very knowledgeable at what you do. You may have a profile on LinkedIn highlighting your experiences and the companies(or company) that you worked for. You would have laid a foundation of the basics to do your job and built upon this into maturity, able to receive higher pay and more compensation. You may have even taken on leadership roles and manage others and given additional responsibilities.

Now, if we take this understanding into the spiritual life, we can see what the author of Hebrews was trying to get at. When a foundational set of beliefs were laid down upon salvation, it is only expected this is being built upon. Though, when we stagnate in our understanding of God, we never really build upon this foundation and have to be re-taught the basics of God. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for 5, 10, or 20 years, if you never study God’s Word and build up your spiritual muscles, then you can never move on into more spiritual and more mature understanding of who God is and all the things that the Holy Spirit can reveal about God within the pages of the Bible.

Verse 3 shows us that God is the boss of your job. If you show dedication to your company and willingness to grow and learn, He will promote you. He will see that you can be trusted, give you additional tasks, and even allow you to take on roles such as elder, pastor, or teacher. But first and foremost, you have to want to treat your faith and spiritual life as that of a job. It has to be a major part of your every day life throughout the week.

Application

If you could do a LinkedIn profile of your Biblical knowledge and spiritual life, how would it look? Could you be proud of the experiences and knowledge you have gained throughout your life? Or maybe, you are embarrassed that the basic tenants of our faith is still unclear to you and would not share much on your profile?

Take an assessment of your spiritual growth today. Look deep into your life and ask yourself if you have truly moved into maturity of your faith. Maybe you have hit a temporary bump in the road that you now notice or find areas where you are currently lacking. Where do you see yourself and how can you get to where you believe God wants you to go?

Prayer

Father in heaven, help me to seek after You more each day. I am far from perfect in my ability to learn more about who You are and how I can move further into maturity of my faith. I am willing Lord, and so permit me to grow in my knowledge of You. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.