November 22, the key to spiritual maturity. Solid food is for the mature,

for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good

from evil. Hebrews 5, 14. Now this is amazing. Don't miss it. It could save you years of wasted living.

What this verse is saying is that if you want to become mature and understand and appreciate

the more solid teachings of the word, then the rich, nutritional, precious milk of God's gospel

promises must transform your moral senses, your spiritual mind so that you can discern

between good and evil. Well, let me put it another way. Getting ready to feast on all God's word

is not first an intellectual challenge. It is first a moral challenge. If you want to eat the

solid food of the word, you must exercise your spiritual senses so as to develop a mind that

discerns between good and evil. This is a moral challenge, not just intellectual.

A startling truth is that if you stumble over understanding Melchizedek in Genesis and Hebrews,

it may be because you watch questionable TV programs. If you stumble over the doctrine of

election, it may be because you still use some shady business practices. If you stumble

over the God-centered work of Christ on the cross, it may be because you love money

and spend too much and give too little the pathway to maturity and to solid biblical food

is not first becoming an intelligent person but becoming an obedient person.

What you do with alcohol and sex and money and leisure and food and computers and the way you treat

other people has more to do with your capacity for solid food than where you go to school or what

books you read. This is so important because in our highly technological society, we are prone to

think that education, especially intellectual education, is the key to maturity.

There are many PhDs who choke in their spiritual immaturity on the things of God

and there are many less educated saints who are deeply mature and can feed with pleasure and

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