Occasionally we hear someone referencing, “The meat of the word” as if the meat were some deep, ponderous revelation. If you have thought this way I’d like to give you a friendly correction. Now it is true in our culture that we use expressions like, “That’s a thought I’ll have to chew on” but that is not what is going on when we talk of spiritual meat.
In Hebrews 5 there is a rebuke that the saints have not advanced beyond infancy. They were told that they needed milk not solid food. The meat does not refer to cognitive advancement but practical applications, doing the word, – the practices of:
Turning from sin to God
Actively putting faith in Him
The exercise of baptisms
Actually putting hands on people to pray for them
Truly living lives preparing for the resurrection and eternal judgment
The word, “meat “used in the KJV is typically translated as “solid food.” “Trophe” means nourishment. We get solid nourishment by actually doing what God wishes, not by being able to recite biblical concepts.
Messiah shows this to be true in John 4:34, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” Meat = doing the Father’s will.
Our Lord went on to say, “For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” Babies are inactive. They lie in the lap and suck milk. They are not doers, simply receivers. Adults eat solid food and do things.
You see, babes are not skilled in living out righteousness. They are receivers only. Our goal is to grow up and become doers of the will of God. As we do, we find the beef.
Steven C Johnson
https://landingstripenterprises.com/
