TRAINING

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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Practice might make perfect, but it can be no fun at all. We all just want to be great at whatever we are doing without putting in the time and effort to grow and mature. The same is true in our walk with the Lord. We want spiritual strength, maturity, perseverance, and power, but we don’t want to do the work that such growth demands. 

In the passage we are looking at today, we hear more about our calling from God to seek the maturity and strength that come from training and hard work.

12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

(Hebrews 5:12-14 NIV11)

Ought to be

Ouch. In verse 12, we hear the powerful truth, “You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.”

As a pastor, I have wanted to say this to A LOT of people over the years. I have not (until now) because most of the people who fall into this category of immaturity just cannot handle this kind of blunt truth. 

In this power-filled statement we hear a truth. We are being told that, it is right for disciple of Jesus Christ to grow and mature to the point that he or she can be a leader of others. Essentially, a mature disciple of Jesus should be working in other people’s lives to help them grow and mature as believers. 

Instead

Verse 12 continues, “Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.”

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have heard some believer in Jesus express their reluctance to lead a group, speak at an event, or share their story of faith with others because they feel inadequate and in need of more training. 

I dream about being in a church where the people understand their calling to be teachers and leaders and not just sponges soaking up more and more of God’s word, to then sit by and not put these gifts to work for the Lord. 

Want more

The believer in Jesus Christ needs to begin their journey of maturity and growth by being fed the milk of the faith by others. This is the right place to start. But we cannot stay here, we must want more. 

If you are someone who wants to grow and mature, moving from the basics of your faith, moving from being fed to feeding others, then you need to seek out training. 

This kind of training is not more classes or more education, you need to seek out opportunities to use the knowledge you have acquired for the good of others. You need to seek training in such a way that you become someone who is being used by God to help others move from the bottle to solid foods. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, I want to be used by you to help others mature and grow in their faith. I recognize my need to lay aside the bottle and move on to real, adult food. I see that in order for that to happen, I need to get active. I am dedicating myself to you for this purpose today. Help me train and grow stronger today!

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH

Worked at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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