Jesus has certain expectations of all His disciples. He expects us to make progress in our understanding of spiritual things. He asked Nicodemus, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and [yet you] do not understand these things?” (John 3:10). The Pharisee did not understand the simple, elemental things of the gospel, the “earthly things” (v. 12) that should have been clear to him from the Old Testament.
Jesus asked the disciples who missed the meaning of His lessons, “Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand?” (Matthew 16:9), NIV). The disciples were still puzzling over “earthly things” when they should have gone on to “heavenly things,” that is, deeper truths of the Lord.
I must not spend my time relearning the obvious or searching agonizingly for a truth that is “nigh [me], even in [my] mouth” (Romans 10:8, KJV). To go over a lesson again and again, after the Lord has made it clear, is to provoke Him. Nicodemus dealt with the truth almost daily; yet he could not see it. That is inexcusable. What is more inexcusable is for me to learn the simple, basic steps of the faith but never get beyond them to the “heavenly things.”
I have wondered at the paucity of the church and its tiny impact on the world in general, even though there are far more of us today than ever. Can it be that we are still infants, learning our ABC’s, never getting beyond kindergarten? Do we hear Jesus saying, “Do you still not understand?” Are we still battling the enemy with infantile weapons? The urging of God is overwhelming: “Let us leave the elementary teachings [ABC’s] about Christ and go on to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1, NIV). That is the will of God for us – maturity!
“And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).
Daily with the King 