¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food…

We have come to expect daily devotionals to always be encouraging and uplifting, to warm our souls before another busy day of life. But Scripture is filled with much hard-nosed exhortation. 2 Timothy 3:16 makes this clear: “All Scripture is … profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness …” We face up to our shortcomings! In reading Scripture we should have the mindset, “If the shoe fits wear it!” If it doesn’t fit, we ought to pray as David did, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” (Ps 51:23).

Our passage today requires us to ask, “Am I a maturing believer, or am I like the original audience stuck in spiritual infancy?” The readers, at the time of writing, had been Christians long enough to have had a good grasp on the basics of the faith, such that they should be capable of teaching them to others. Every Christian, given a modest amount of time, should be able to show from Scripture the most fundamental rudiments of the faith. What those things are will be elucidated in the next chapter, but suffice it to say that the readers are likened to babies who still need breast milk and haven’t moved on to the solid food of life.

The phrase “oracles,” comes from the plural of “logos.” The idea conveys the sense of the messages or communications of God, or “God’s utterances” as the NET Bible puts it. At times God communicates like a parent to a baby, at other times the utterances of God are much more involved and deeper. One can imagine the difference in how a parent speaks with an infant, versus how he or she speaks to an adult child. There is a huge difference. There is a certain basic minimum that every believer should know. Like a baby growing from being at its mother’s breast to sitting at a table, using fork and spoon properly. Going from pablum to eating what the rest of the family eats. This is basic truth. To not get this deserves a rebuke!

The Scripture does not hold back in saying harsh, challenging things when they need to be said. So, Christian, do not coddle yourself, but accept the harsh, challenging things of Scripture. Receive the rebuke, if it fits. Are you able to teach the basic principles of the Christian faith to others? Until you accept that, and correct the situation, you will not be able to grow deeper in faith; you will be stuck in infancy. But God desires more for you than that.