“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”-Hebrew 5:14
It is not in the nature of man to deny themselves. Once all of our needs are provided for, we should be content and yet contentment evades us. We search for more. More security, more comfort, more entertainment, more social, more pleasure, more excitement. Our appetites and passions drive us to more. The majority of our intelligence and skill employed to fill our carnal appetites. The desire to want more ever present.
Between thirty four and thirty seven weeks gestation a baby learns to suck, swallow, and breath. Babies come into the world hardwired to accomplish these things. Within two hours they crave milk and should be fed. The appetite is there and longing to be filled. As the months pass it is part of the mothers role to satisfy this incredible craving. This needy child. However, there comes a time when the milk isn’t enough and the baby requires more to grow and in order to grow it must leave the milk and consume solid food. This period of “weaning” off the milk to the meat can be hard as the child revolts against change. Against the perception of lack. The first of many lessons of self denial begin, and they must quiet themselves. The new born Christian will be born with the desire to read God’s Word. The old appetites of the world pass away and the new appetites of righteousness take hold. When you feed that appetite you grow. Grow in faith, and in the knowledge of God. As the authority of the scriptures takes hold, obedience and self denial feed the maturating Christian. Not a maturing out of sin, that comes instantaneously when you are born again by the Spirit, but a maturing into the measure and stature and fullness of Christ. The scriptures give the distinction of “full age” to those who by “reason of use” have their sense exercised. The skilled and unskilled are separated by practice. A practiced hand is self-evident. You recognize experience right away. The carpenter, surgeon, logger, mechanic, whatever it might be, it is not hard to recognize a practiced hand. Confidence, grounded in experience, which was hard earned by consistent use. The path to this tracks through self denial. A man of the world might say: “I want to be great. I want to be esteemed. I want to be comfortable. I want to be wealthy.” These wants have costs, and that cost looks like self denial. Many are willing to pay the price for selfish ambition in order to satiate carnal appetites; however it fails to produce everlasting peace. Yet, how many are willing to pay the same price to know Christ? The scripture searches this out with one simple question: “What is your life?” Is it the habitual satisfying of natural impulses? Are you only a body? Or is there something more? Something deeper, something spiritual? What purpose does sacrifice serve if every minute you still march closer to death? What good is all the things of this life if they only protect your mortal body (and hardly do that)? God instructed us to put away our lust and embrace the cross. We gain a far more enduring life. We gain a far better confidence and companionship while here. We gain a peace that passes all understanding.
The Christian that has been weaned off the milk, and is daily on a diet of meat will understand these things. They will see what other mortals cannot see. They will wait on the Lord in times of hurry. They will be at peace in times of war. Content in times of poverty. Confident in times of scarcity. They have a source of strength that nourishes the innermost depths of man. This quickening sets them apart from the world. It is settled in self denial.
