Seasons: Summer — Tuesday
Hebrews 6:1
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. (NLT)
I love to dance. I’ve trained since I was 3 years old and continue to train as an adult. I knew very early on that it wasn’t just a hobby for me—it was my passion. Once I got to high school, I started teaching dance classes to kids ages 3-12. Most of these kids had never danced before and knew nothing about the basics. I, on the other hand, did not know a life outside of dance and was averaging 30+ hours of weekly training. Because of that, I started to get easily frustrated with teaching these kids the basics because they weren’t things I had to think about anymore—they were just ingrained in me.
The only reason I know how to dance is because of teachers who were patient with me as I learned the foundations of each style, but the best teachers knew I wasn’t supposed to stay at the foundational level. They wanted me to be a mature dancer, someone who could perform any style at any given moment. They wanted my knowledge of dance to be something that was immediately evident the moment I took the stage. Though the fundamentals were something I learned decades ago, I’ve always had to maintain a deep understanding of them so that I could move on to more complex skills.
We see this same dynamic in our walk with Christ. In our verse today, the author of Hebrews is urging his readers to become mature in their understanding of the teachings of Christ. When we first come to know Him, our foundation is laid as we learn the essentials of following Him, but eventually, we’re called to go beyond that—remaining rooted in the essentials while simultaneously continuing to grow in understanding. This is the only way we will mature. We must not forget what we first learned, but when we remain hungry for wisdom and understanding, the Lord will never stop teaching us new things.
Tuesday’s Reflection
The only way to learn something new is to put yourself in a place to receive new information. Ask yourself if you are actively trying to learn new things about Christ and His teachings. If you aren’t, take some time to learn something new! Write down your learnings every day this week.