Nutrients are essential in our physical life to enable us to grow and to sustain us. A baby lives primarily on water and milk. As the baby grows, he begins to add solid foods into his diet, working his way up to meat. But we do not exist on water alone, or only milk or bread or meat. We need a balanced diet to be the healthiest we can be in order to live a full life.
When an individual first receives God into his life by believing Romans 10:9 and 10, he becomes a child (baby) of God. To develop fully, he needs the proper diet to grow with God. A truly balanced diet will have the water, milk, bread, meat (and vegetable) of the Word of God, all being partaken in one’s life.
Water
Jeremiah 2:13a
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water…John 4:14
but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
One’s initial thirst for life with God begins to be quenched when he accepts Jesus as his Lord. It continues to be quenched by not forsaking God, the Fountain of Living Waters.
Milk
1 Peter 2:2 and 3
(2) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
(3) now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
There are more nutrients in milk than in water. As one stays faithful to God, he learns “…the elementary truths of God’s word…” (Heb. 5:12) and incorporates them into his life. As one does so, he grows (the English transliteration of the Greek is auxano, which means growth from within without compulsion.)
Bread
John 6:35
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Believe in Jesus; have faith in Him. Be “Fully Active In Trusting Him,” and your thirst will be quenched. To enjoy the bread of life, the next level of sustenance, one comes to Jesus on a daily basis, seeking his help in the affairs of life. This shows action on one’s part.
Meat
Hebrews 5:14
But solid food [strong meat–KJV] is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.James 1:25
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
The perfect law is where one goes for solid food [meat], and we are to continue in this perfect law (the strong meat).
A believer must eat (receive the Word) and then digest what he eats (retain the Word). But to balance any diet and get all the nutrients that are needed to be as healthy and strong as one can be, one needs to eat vegetables. I now want to show that “let us” is God’s favorite vegetable in the Bible, and how we eat our “let us” is by applying the Word in our lives and releasing it to others.
Throughout His Word, God implores us to walk godly rather than ungodly. Our old, sinful nature pulls at us to turn from Him, so we will first look at a few negative “let us” verses. Then, because we need encouragement to walk righteously, we will look at a number of positive “let us” verses.
The “let us not” verses show up as old, brown, dead leaves of “let us.” They are something we should want no part of in our lives. In fact, we are to “put to death” these and other aspects of the old nature.
1 Corinthians 10:8a (KJV)
Neither let us [let us not] commit fornication…1 Corinthians 10:9 (KJV)
Neither let us [let us not] tempt Christ…Galatians 5:26
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.Galatians 6:9a
Let us not grow weary in doing good…Colossians 3:5a
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature…
“Putting to death” is the extreme of “let us not.”
Just looking at these brown leaves of “let us” should motivate us to have no part in fornication, tempting Christ, envying each other, or growing weary in doing good. To maintain a healthy spiritual diet, we must look to the fresh, green, living leaves of “let us.” What follows are a few of these healthy leaves of “let us.” Put together, these leaves will give us the full head of “let us” that God intends for us to enjoy.
Romans 14:19
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.2 Corinthians 7:1
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.Hebrews 4:14b
…let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help is in our time of need.
Eating and digesting our “let us” is how we bond together as members of the Body of Christ, knowing that the Lord Jesus is always there to help us. These verses encourage us to stand firm with fellow believers, living our lives full of mercy and grace toward one another. “Let us” gives us the strength to persevere out of reverence for God and Christ.
Hebrews 12:1–3
(1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
(2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart [strength from Jesus].Hebrews 13:15
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
Our attitude in partaking of “let us” is one of thankfulness and love, which will cause us to succeed.
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but [let us love] with actions and in truth.
In Hebrews 10, there are five invigorating leaves of “let us” that give us strength to build up the Body of Christ.
Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Since we have access to “the Most Holy Place” (v. 19) and we have “a high priest” (v. 21 – KJV) who has offered the ultimate sacrifice, we can draw near to God. Jesus Christ tore down the curtain that separated us from God, and now we are God’s dwelling place with “…access to the Father by one Spirit” (Eph. 2:18b). We are now to draw closer to God through Jesus Christ. We must have a sincere heart, knowing what Jesus has accomplished for us. We need to personalize the fullness of what he did for us. This is the first step in the building up of the Body: one’s “personal” growth.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Getting born again, Step One, is the simple part in drawing near to God. As we develop our trust in Him and His Son, and our Hope becomes more real, then we will stand firm in this world. We will unswervingly persevere through the trials and sufferings of today, knowing our hope of being gathered together with Christ and later being with him in a restored Paradise. God has promised this, and God is faithful to do what He says. Now our responsibility is to stand faithful and grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God through His Word, and that is Step Two on the path of growth.
Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Once we have accepted Christ and are drawing closer to God, building the Hope deeply into our hearts, our individual walk with God is on a firm foundation. Now we begin to look outside of ourselves and see what we can do for other members of the Body. We begin to contemplate ways to give of ourselves that will encourage others to love more fully and fulfill their part in the Body of Christ. As individuals, we have grown up to begin looking outside of self and into the lives of others. This is Step Three on the path of spiritual growth.
Hebrews 10:25a
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…
Is there a better way to spur one another on than spending face-to-face, heart-to-heart time together? The example of the First Century Church in Acts 2 helps us see the standard of fellowship that is available. People met together primarily to hear the Word of God, but also for interaction, eating together, and praying together. Likewise, we must get together and make the truth of the Word our standard for how to behave with one another. It is the Word that shows us who we are in Christ and how to love one another. Through spending time together we can reach into each other’s hearts and minister Truth to one another. This is Step Four in growing up into Christ.
Hebrews 10:25b
…let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
One thing we are to do is to encourage one another. The English transliteration of the Greek is parakaleo, translated “encourage,” means “to call aside, appeal to by way of exhortation, comfort, instruction.” We comfort one another with the comfort we get from God. Also, prophecy is a way we can edify, encourage, and comfort each other (1 Cor. 14:3). When together, we are to operate the manifestations of the spirit, especially tongues with interpretation and prophecy. As we get more and more out of ourselves and more and more into serving others, the Body is encouraged. This is Step Five in the building up of the Body.
1 John 4:7a
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.…
“Let us” is apparently God’s favorite vegetable in the Bible. This helps us balance our lives, giving us a complete meal of water, milk, bread, meat and vegetables. Our obedience in “eating our vegetables” enables God and the Lord Jesus to work with us, encourage us, and help us encourage one another day by day.
Together we can delve deeper into God’s heart, strengthened by Christ and fellow believers. Day-by-day, with thankfulness and love, we shall succeed to a fuller, deeper degree in becoming like Christ and manifesting his love and Truth to a dying world. So, let us be sure to have lots of “let us” in our daily spiritual diet. Bon appetit!
