S50P3 – Our spiritual fuel: deeper godly teaching

1 Cor. 3:1-3

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

Teachers come in all varieties.  After graduating high school, attending college, and going through graduate school, one encounters just about every variety out there.  If you ask any student, he or she likely can name at least one teacher who really made a difference or was a great influence.  Some might praise a teacher for their manner of teaching, making things clear and easy to understand.  Others might praise a teacher for being less formal and keeping the class relaxed. Personally, the greatest teachers I have encountered always left me with something of value that I desperately needed.  Whether it was the material they taught or the character they carried, they made me better because they taught me something new that helped me grow. 

God wants our Christian teaching to be great spiritual food that provides true sustenance, and there are many aspects to this.  The most critical aspect is a teaching that is true and Spirit-filled.  Not everyone can bring this hearty food to the table and prepare it and serve it the way God desires.  We must make sure that we are testing everything we hear against the Spirit so that we know we have truly moved on from milk to solid food.  Coupled with this, there is a heart of a teacher that we should see.  The leaders at the front of the room must be there to serve, and their interest must be the spiritual growth of the students.  The fact that we are told to move from milk to solid food indicates that there must be some transition in what we learn.  There must be some progression to the spiritual complexity of these teachings.

If you are craving the Godly teaching that will be your spiritual food, you must be willing to go deeper.  Although it is true that the same scripture can be reviewed a thousand times, and the Holy Spirit can reveal something new every time, we cannot rest with rehashing the same messages without deeper understanding.  Scripture is about revelation, and that revelation is what moves us from spiritual milk to solid food. Without that transition, we cannot be sustained.  We will not see growth, and we will have no choice but to regress.  Let us seek God to take us deeper with new revelation every time that we meditate on his word.  Father, thank You that your teachings are our spiritual food and that they will always fill us more and more.