"Grow Up!" November 13 Readings: Ezekiel 33-34, Hebrews 5:11–6:20, Psalm 120, Proverbs 27:24–27

  

Reading the Bible in 2025

Each day this year, we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and a part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety. 

NOTE: If you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!

Bible Readings: Ezekiel 33-34, Hebrews 5:11–6:20, Psalm 120, Proverbs 27:24–27

    Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version 

Daily Devotional: Grow Up!

My grandson Ellis spent several years in his terrible twos! He tested his limits, demanded his way, and threw epic tantrums. We called him Hurricane Ellis - he left a swath of destruction wherever he went. It could be challenging, but it was also incredibly cute. We laughed when we weren't ducking. Even when he was being ornery, it was adorable.

It won't be so cute when he's 15 if he behaves the same way. What is cute in a toddler is annoying in a child and intolerable in a teenager. Ellis was a semi-normal toddler. If he is still behaving the same way when he is 18, there won't be anything cute about it. Somewhere along the way, he will begin to hear those fateful words that parents often say to their children - GROW UP!

That is what the author of Hebrews was saying to his readers in Hebrews 5:12.

Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. 

What was the problem? They should have been mature, leading others in the ways of Christ, and training them to follow him, but they were not. They were still having to learn the basic lessons of life. They have remained on a diet of milk instead of going on to eat the solid food they need to grow. 

We sometimes wonder why the church is in the kind of mess that it is in today. The problem is what the author diagnosed here in this passage. American Christians live on a baby's diet, refusing to dig into the meat of the Word and staying with the pablum, or worse, living on a diet of junk food - but that's another devotional altogether. Too often, we find believers who have been saved for 20 or 30 years still behaving like they are in their terrible twos.

There is a simple solution to this problem. We need to grow up, to mature in Christ, to grow in him. We need to deal with the sicknesses that prevent spiritual growth, by repenting of our sin and seeking God. We must get a consistent diet of high-nutrition, solid spiritual food by reading, studying, and obeying God's Word. As we turn from our growth-stunting sins and feast upon God's Word, we will grow and leave behind childish behavior. 

Father, build your character into me. May I grow strong in you through your Word. 

Consider God's Word:

Which of these four passages spoke most clearly to you today? 

Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages? 

Is there something in your life that needs to change?

Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to? 

Are you growing and maturing in Christ?
Think back to what you were a year ago, two years ago? What has changed in you that is evidence of the maturing work of Christ?