Psalm 37:23 English Standard Version (ESV) The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;

Those of us who have children or have been around children, when they take those first steps, can remember the joy in seeing those first steps. We can see them wobble, unsteady, and reaching out for their mother or father as they are encouraged to walk towards them.

Think on this a moment while we reflect on being born again. Entering into the Kingdom of God, becoming a member of this great family, there are many who encourage us to walk by faith and we have not yet taken one step.

The first steps of faith will be just as unsure as that baby who is just learning to walk.

Father God is waiting with open arms to receive us. He is our heart’s desire. Who is holding us in His arms steadying us, holding us upright, encouraging us from a place of security to take that first step? It is Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 English Standard Version (SEV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Now for the little detail seen in Psalm 37:23, our steps are directed by God the Father when we take delight in the Son. The Son is the Way, His Way.

How can we take delight in someone we do not know intimately? Intimacy produces trust, and trust produces confidence, and confidence produces stability.

Babes in Christ do not know this when they first come to Christ. They have just been released from the penalty of sin and that might be the only thing they know and desire for the moment.

While we have been set free from the penalty of sin, we have not been set free from the presence of sin. Sin is the slippery floor that causes us to be unstable. As much as we want to walk and think we can, we had yet to take that first step of faith when first born again.

Remember that as we encourage others to walk by faith.

Hebrews 6:1-2 English Standard Version

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

We teach the elemental doctrines because there are new believers that enter into this new covenant. When they come up out of the baptismal waters into this new life, they have yet to learn how to see with spiritual eyes or hear with spiritual ears. This is not something that can be taught, it can only be experienced.

The Holy Spirit shows each of us how and when we get to experience that which has been promised by God. When they say “I don’t get it” it is a sign that they are looking to us for the answer to what the Holy Spirit is doing in them and for them.

We can look at our earthly life and remember how it felt to be young and wanted to be older so that we could enjoy things withheld from us because of our age. It isn’t about age, it is about coming to know who Christ is in us. That can only be seen and heard by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So much has been said about being imitators of those who came before us and how they came to a level of maturity to leave behind the elemental doctrines. That is coming to a knowledge of Christ in themselves, as Lord and commander of this life in Christ. We cannot understand what to do until we hear His voice in us because we have taken His Word to heart.

That is not a way of thinking, it is a way of loving.

John 14:15-17 English Standard Version

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

This is the first promise to believe by faith. Know Him.