“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom ….” [Col 3:16a]
When my babies were little, they were so cute and adorable, until they were hungry. Then they got cranky and fussy and demanding. Their empty bellies hurt, and they would not be satisfied until they were filled again.
As preschoolers they learned to tell me they were hungry, and sometimes were adamant about what they wanted to eat. At times it was a struggle to get them to eat healthy. They just wanted what they wanted.
Then they reached their teens (especially my boys) and I could not keep enough food in the house. They raided the refrigerator, the pantry, the cookie jar, the freezer (frozen pizzas!). They fed themselves whenever they wanted.
Paul reminds us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. There comes a time in the life of the believer when we must feed on the Word of God ourselves. We do not need any longer to have someone else feed us, nor do we need to blame someone else for our spiritual hunger.
That old reason for leaving a church, “I am not being fed …” is really a warning about our own lack of study and persistence in the Scriptures (unless we really are new babes in the LORD). The Scriptures are quite clear, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” [2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV]
Hebrews 5:11-14 also reminds us that there is to come a time in the life of every believer where we abandon milk and where we seek solid food, a mature walk with Christ Jesus, and become those competent to teach others. As Colossians reminds us, we are to teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.
