1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us. 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carol McCracken, and after a short word 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse Hebrews 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: by fourteen. Today's Bible verses Hebrews Fyve fourteen. But solid 7 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: food is for the mature, for those whose senses have 8 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: been trained to distinguish between good and evil. We love 9 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: listening to audiobooks, whether I'm on a road trip or 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: tackling chores around the house. They make time fly. They've 11 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: introduced me to fascinating people, compelling stories, ideas I probably 12 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: never would have encountered otherwise. But I've noticed something over 13 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: the last few years. It seems like more and more 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: best selling books are competing to see who can push 15 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: me in the lip of the furthest If they can 16 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: shock you in the first chapter, you'll keep reading. If 17 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: they can blur the lines between right and wrong, you'll 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: stay engaged. And every now and then I'll find myself 19 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: pausing a book and saying, why am I listening to this? 20 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: Is this simply telling a story, or is it slowly 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: asking me to see sin differently than God does. Now, 22 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: before you think this is about audiobooks, it's really not. 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 1: The same. Question applies to everything we consume. The podcast 24 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: we faithfully follow, the television shows we binge on the weekends, 25 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: the endless scrolling through social media, even the conversations we 26 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: continually expose ourselves to. Every voice we invite into our 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: lives leads some kind of impression because everything we consume 28 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: is shaping us in some way. At the same time, 29 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: I don't believe the answer is to pretend the world 30 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: does it exists. Christians are called to live in a bubble. 31 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: We can't share the hope of Christ with people if 32 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: we don't understand the world they're living in. We need 33 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: to know the questions culture is asking, and we need 34 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: to recognize false teaching when we hear it. We need 35 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: to understand the difference between compassion and compromise. Being unaware 36 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: of the world doesn't make us spiritually mature. Sometimes it 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: makes us unprepared. So how do we hold these two 38 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: ideas together? Let me stay born without being conformed, and 39 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: how do we understand the world without letting the world 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: become our teacher, I think Hebrews fives gives us a 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: remarkable answer. The writer isn't speaking to brand new believers. 42 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: He's writing to Christians who have been following Christ long 43 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: enough that they should have been growing in their faith, 44 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: but instead they'd become spiritually stagnant. In fact, if you 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: back up just to be verses, the writer says something 46 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: that probably Stone as a leader readers. Rather, he tells 47 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: them they have become dull of hearing. The problem wasn't 48 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: that they lacked intelligence. It wasn't they didn't have access 49 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: to God's word. They'd simply stopped growing spiritually speaking, they 50 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: had become content with the basics. When God intended them 51 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: to mature. He used the illustration of a child who 52 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: still needs milk instead of solid food. There's nothing wrong 53 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: with milk when you're a baby. Every one of us 54 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: begins there. We all start by learning the foundational truths 55 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: of the faith. But imagine an adult who never learned 56 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: to eat anything else. We would recognize immediately that something 57 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: wasn't healthy. The same is true spiritually. God never intended 58 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: us to remain where we first believed. His desires that, 59 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: year after year would become people who know him more deeply, 60 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: understand his word more clearly, and can recognize the difference 61 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: between truth and error with increasing confidence. Spiritual maturity isn't 62 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: measured simply by the passing of time. It's measured by 63 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: whether we're allowing God to shape our minds and our hearts. 64 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: Then the writer says something fascinating that solid food is 65 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: for the mature, for those whose senses have been trained 66 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: to distinguish between good and evil. Now that's an interesting 67 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: definition of maturity, isn't it. Notice he doesn't define maturity 68 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: by how long someone's attended church or how many Bible 69 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: studies they've completed. It isn't measured by how much theology 70 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: they can recite, or how many verses they've memorized. He 71 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: says maturity is demonstrated by discernment, the ability to distinguish 72 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: between good and evil. The word translated trained come from 73 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: the Greek word goomnadzo, which is where we get our 74 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: English words ofmnasium. It was used to describe an athlete 75 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: who repeatedly exercised until certain movements became second nature. Nobody 76 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: walks into a gym once and becomes strolled. Strength comes 77 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: from repeated training, repeated practice, and repeated discipline, and the 78 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: same is true Spiritually. Discernment isn't something God simply drops 79 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: into our laps. It develops as we repeatedly exposed our 80 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: minds to God's word, until his way of thinking begins 81 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: to shape our own. Over time, we start recognizing when 82 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: something sounds almost true but not quite, and we begin 83 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: to notice when entertainment is asking us to sympathize with 84 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: what God calls sin. We can appreciate a well written 85 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: story without allowing that story to redefine our values. That's 86 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,280 Speaker 1: why Scripture never tells us to become ignorant of the world. 87 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: Daniel understood Babylon, but Babylon never owned Daniel's heart. Paul 88 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: understood Greek philosophy well enough to quote pagan poets in Athens. 89 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: But as world, do you remain firmly rude at Christ? 90 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: Jesus ate with sinners without ever adopting their values. They 91 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: understood the culture because they were called to reach the culture, 92 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: but they were ever discipled by it. I think that's 93 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: a question we have to keep asking ourselves today. It's 94 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: not can a Christian read this book or can a 95 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: Christian watch this show? Those questions, usually in in debates 96 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: over where the line is. A better question is what 97 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: is this training my heart to admire? Because everything's teaching 98 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: us something. Every author is a worldview, every filmmaker has 99 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: a worldview, every influencer has a worldview, and every new 100 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: source has a worldview. None of them are neutral. They're 101 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: all inviting us to see the world through a particular lens. 102 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 1: The question is whether that lens is becoming clearer than 103 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: the lens of scripture. That's why spending time in God's 104 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: word isn't simply another item to check off the spiritual 105 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: to do list. It's the training ground where God develops 106 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,799 Speaker 1: our discernment. The more familiar we become with this character, 107 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: his truth, and his ways, the more naturally will recognize 108 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: when some is pulling us away from Him, even if 109 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: it comes wrapped in a compelling story or a best 110 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: selling book. We don't need to fear the world, nor 111 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: where do we need to hide from it, but we 112 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: do need to be equipped to live faithfully within it. 113 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: And according to Hebrews, that kind of maturity doesn't happen 114 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: by accident. It happens as our spiritual senses are trained 115 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: day by day by the truth of God's word. So today, 116 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: before you press play on that next audio book, or 117 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: turn on the next show, or even starts scrolling through 118 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: your favorite app, don't just ask whether it's entertaining, ask 119 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: yourself a better question, what is this training my heart 120 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: to love? Because whatever repeatedly shapes our minds will eventually 121 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: influence our lives, and God desires that our hearts becomes 122 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: so well trained by His truth that we can engage 123 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: the world with wisdom, recognize deception when it appears, and 124 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: reflect Christ faithfully wherever He sends us. Will you pray 125 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: with me, dear Lord in heaven. It's kind of a 126 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: tension that we live in. We want to hear the 127 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: sound of your voice, but we're also living in the 128 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: middle of a broken world. But you called us to 129 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: that broken world, Lord, and we're supposed to point people 130 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: to you. But we should know the difference between right 131 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: and wrong, and sometimes, Lord, we're better understanding that than others. 132 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: But the closer we are to you, and the more 133 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: faithfully that we follow you and know and understand your voice, 134 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,199 Speaker 1: the more you'll guide us. Not much is true, Lord, 135 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: We're still going to make mistakes. We go forward, but 136 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,839 Speaker 1: you know what. We're trying to become more like you 137 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: with your help. Please help us, Lord, we need it, 138 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: and your precious name we pray Amen.