Walking With Christ

Hebrews 5:12–13  (12)For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.  You need milk, not solid food, (13)for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.(ESV)

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⚓ Floatie:  The Illusion of Reading
Most Christians read the Bible like a user manual.  They skim until they find the answer they think they need, then stop.  But Scripture is not a manual—it’s a mirror, a meal, and a sword.  If you stop at reading, you’ll never learn to listen.  And if you never learn to listen, you’ll never truly grow.

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✒️ Forge:  Scripture Is Meant to Be Digested
In Hebrews 5, the author rebukes believers not for their ignorance but for their stagnation.  They should be teachers.  Instead, they are still spiritual infants.  The issue isn’t that they haven’t read—it’s that they haven’t digested.

This is a biblical pattern:

• The Bereans (Acts 17:11) were commended not for curiosity, but for daily examination.
• Jesus said His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27), not just read His words.
• Paul said the Word of Christ must dwell richly in us (Col 3:16), not sparsely or superficially.

Reading is the doorway.  Discernment is the destination.  And that requires both submission and skill.

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⚒️ Anvil:  Surface Isn’t Safe
Ask yourself:

• When was the last time Scripture wounded me?
• Have I confused reading the Bible with being changed by it?
• Do I expect transformation from exposure alone, or do I sit under the Word as one accountable to it?

The milk of Scripture comforts.  The meat confronts.  And the only way to move from one to the other is to keep chewing.  The early church had no printed Bibles.  But they had the Word burned into their bones.  We have access to Scripture in every form but often lack access to its depth—because we refuse to descend.

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🔥 Ember:  The Cost of Tuning Out
Many of us are living beneath our spiritual inheritance because we treat the Bible as background noise.  We read to say we’ve read.  We skim as if God mumbles.  But He doesn’t mumble.  He thunders.  We just forgot how to listen.

And here’s the danger:  if you only ever drink the milk, you’ll start choking on meat.  What once would have matured you will start to offend you.  You’ll avoid the parts that pierce and cling to the ones that coddle.  And slowly, the Word that was meant to shape you will become one you reshape.

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🌿 Covenant Triumph:  From Reading to Beholding
But it doesn’t have to stay that way.  Scripture is living because the One who speaks through it still breathes.  The same Word that rebukes can restore.  The same sword that wounds can heal.  If you keep showing up with an open heart, you’ll find the shift:  the Bible stops being a book you read, and becomes a voice that reads you.

Let the milk give way to meat.  Let the surface break open to the depth.  Because reading is not enough—not when you were meant to behold.

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[⚓ Floatie] [✒️ Forge] [⚒️ Anvil] [🔥 Ember] [🌿 Covenant Triumph]
This post follows the Forge Baseline Rule—layered truth for the discerning remnant.