Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:14)
Expanded Passage: Hebrews 5:13-14
The acidy bitterness of coffee used to bother my stomach, but bit by bit I built up a tolerance until gradually an affection for this flavor that used to bother me was born. The same could be said for my relationship with running. I can’t say the feeling of my lungs being on fire was my heart’s burning desire . . . at least, not initially. But over time, as I kept consistent about lacing up my shoes and getting out the door, the experience grew on me, and what used to be a chore became an affinity for breathing air in a new way.
Unless you’re a savant, your starting point when trying something new will probably be pretty shabby. And no one would fault you for poor performance with a skill you’ve hardly practiced. But to settle eternally for alternating between the same three chords on a piano instead of learning to play the whole piece . . . ? Most would agree that would be a tragedy.
Spiritual formation is no exception. To stay and settle for the same place where God found and saved us, rather than moving toward righteousness, would be a tragedy. God’s design and intention was not that we would live off yesterday’s provision, but that we would daily yield to his presence, maturing from spiritual milk to solid food. Every day God is inviting his people to develop a taste for his goodness.
Train your palette to taste ever more of the goodness of God.
Amy Boyle lives in Indianapolis, where she’s a disciple, friend, and neighbor, an Indiana Wesleyan alum and twenty-something, passionate about knowing Jesus and making him known.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
