Scripture Focus (NKJV)
“…though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God… and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
— Hebrews 5:12
Devotional
There is a kind of growth that is easy to measure.
We can see it in our grades improving, our understanding deepening, and our ability to handle more responsibility over time. In healthcare training especially, growth is expected. We move from not knowing to knowing, from confusion to clarity, and from dependence to increasing independence. Progress is visible, structured, and constantly evaluated.
But there is another kind of growth that is much harder to measure.
Spiritual growth.
Hebrews 5 introduces a moment of loving but direct confrontation. The writer tells the believers that by this time, they should have matured in their understanding, yet instead they still need to be taught the basics. They have remained at the level of “milk” when they were meant to be ready for “solid food.”
This is not written to shame them, but to wake them up.
Because it is possible to spend time in something without actually growing in it.
And if we are honest, many of us can relate to this more than we would like to admit.
I remember a season where I was deeply committed to my studies, showing up every day, reviewing content, and doing everything I needed to do academically. From the outside, it looked like progress. But spiritually, I was coasting. I would read Scripture quickly without letting it truly speak to me. I would pray, but often out of routine rather than relationship. I knew the language of faith, but I was not consistently living in awareness of God’s voice.
It wasn’t that I had abandoned God.
It was that I had stopped growing with Him.
And that realization was uncomfortable.
Because in environments like ours, we are trained to notice when we are falling behind academically. We feel it quickly. But spiritual stagnation is much quieter. There are no exams to expose it, no grades to reflect it, and no immediate consequences that force us to pay attention.
So we can remain in the same place spiritually for long periods of time without realizing it.
Hebrews challenges that.
The writer is essentially saying: By now, you should have grown.
Not because of pressure.
Not because of performance.
But because growth is a natural response to continued relationship.
Spiritual maturity is not about knowing more information. It is about becoming more responsive to God, more discerning in our decisions, and more aligned with His will.
The contrast between milk and solid food helps us understand this more clearly.
Milk is foundational. It is necessary in the beginning. But there comes a point where remaining at that level is no longer appropriate. Growth requires us to move deeper—to wrestle with truth, to apply it, and to allow it to shape our lives.
For those of us in healthcare training, this is a critical reminder.
We are used to progressing academically, but we must also ask ourselves: Are we progressing spiritually?
Are we still sensitive to God’s voice?
Are we growing in discernment?
Are we allowing Scripture to transform us, or are we simply consuming it?
Because the danger is not just drifting away.
The danger is staying in the same place.
And yet, even in this correction, there is grace.
The writer does not stop with rebuke. The entire purpose of this passage is to call believers forward. To invite them into deeper maturity. To remind them that growth is still possible.
Wherever we find ourselves today—whether we feel like we have been growing or we recognize areas of stagnation—we are not stuck.
God is always inviting us deeper.
Spiritual stagnation is not failure.
But staying there without responding is the danger.
Growth begins again the moment we choose to engage.
Reflection Questions
Have we been growing spiritually at the same pace that we are growing academically?
Are there areas where our relationship with God has become routine rather than intentional?
What might be keeping us from going deeper in our faith during this season?
In what ways is God inviting us to grow beyond where we currently are?
Application
Today, choose one intentional way to go deeper in your relationship with God. This could be slowing down in Scripture, spending focused time in prayer, or reflecting on how God’s Word applies to your current season. Growth does not require perfection; it requires intentionality.
Prayer
Lord, we ask that You reveal to us where we may have become spiritually stagnant. Help us to move beyond routine and into deeper relationship with You. Give us a desire to grow, to understand Your Word, and to become more aligned with Your will. Thank You that You are always inviting us deeper, and that growth is always possible through You.
Amen.