Milk or Solid Food

The new year always brings a sense of a fresh start. A new diary (which may be getting full up already for some people!), a new calendar on the wall, the decorations from Christmas packed away, and the house made ready for all that January will bring.

But what seems like a fresh start isn’t always that easy, as anyone who has moved house or job, will testify. New situations have many challenges, and it is easy to be so desperate to find a sort of peace in the new circumstances, that their potential may not be fully explored.

How absolutely true this is for those who have come to know the Lord as their Saviour. It’s an amazing fresh start, everything in their life has a different focus and it can initially seem exciting but can also be unsettling. Not long ago I was speaking with a lady who had become a believer recently. She told me that it had been quite hard when people who were friends previously had gradually drifted away over the months. She added that she had had good support from new Christian friends, but it was all a bit unexpectedly challenging. She wasn’t looking back to the old ways but the transition to her new life was not without difficulties.

I wondered after I had spoken to her, how many people who have responded to Jesus and made a commitment at an outreach event, maybe even during this recent Christmas period, might not make it through those first days, weeks, and months of initial life-changing adjustments. It occurs to me that every new Christian needs support, encouragement, and inspiring contact with authentic and enthusiastic believers, especially in the fiercely secular society we live in today.

Each one needs help to weather those challenges to their new allegiance, and reassurance that the present difficulties are nothing compared with the blessings of being anchored into the Rock. Could it be that without this vital support, people might lose the potential of a life transformed by Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit,  and either settle for a minimal Sunday-only commitment to fit round their existing life, or even slip back into the old ways, missing out on all that is freely available for those living the full Christian life.

It is a challenge for all of us as we step into this new year to watch out for ‘baby’ believers who may be attending our church fellowship for the first time, or even those who may still be like ‘babes’ even after many years sitting in a pew.

As the writer of Hebrews indicates in our verse today it is possible to have grown extraordinarily little in maturity even after many years. Jesus offers a vibrant, dynamic, fulfilling life and helping those starting out on their Christian walk, or wanting to move on into the vibrant life in the Spirit, to step into that fulness, is for any disciple of Jesus an immeasurable joy.