Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. – Hebrews 5:13-14
“Your blood sugar reading is not good. The normal reading is under 6.5. Yours is 8. This will usually be considered diabetic.” This pronouncement brought me back to days in Primary school where all students were taught what foods to eat. In order to be healthy, every meal should consist of two portions of fruit, two portions of vegetables and only one portion of meat. In addition, everyone should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week. Evidently, years of detracting from recommended eating and exercise has taken a toll on my health.
John Wesley also recommended certain spiritual ‘foods’ and ‘exercises’ that can help us continually experience God’s grace; “ways that God enabled the believer to grow in grace.”52
Grace is a free gift from God… Yet instead of working quietly upon God to act, there are things that we can do – actions which were instituted by Christ – that can become channels [means] for God’s free grace. Training these habits of holiness brings us into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. 53
What are these means of grace? (1) Prayer; (2) Bible reading; (3) Holy Communion; (4) Fasting; (5) Fellowship (Christian conferencing). For Wesley, one neither wanders nor stumbles into maturity. Mountain-top experiences do not sustain growth in grace. Instead, “God has expressed His faithfulness by providing means of grace.”54 Have we expressed our faithfulness by partaking in these?
要知道，凡是吃奶的人，都对称义的道理不熟悉，因为他是个小孩子，不过干粮是给成熟之人吃的，他们经过实践，识别能力得到操练，以致能分辨善恶。 《希伯来书》5：13-14（中文标准译本）
“你的血糖读数不好，正常的读数在6.5以下，你的是8，这通常会被视为糖尿病患者。“医生的报告让我想起了小学的日子，那时所有的学生都被教导该吃什么食物，为了健康，每顿饭应该由两份水果，两份蔬菜和一份肉组成。另外，每个人每周都应该有150分钟的中等强度活动。显然，多年来远离本该有的饮食和运动对我的健康造成了伤害。 约翰.卫斯理也建议一些精神上的“粮食” 和 “运动” ，这可以帮助我们不断体验上帝的恩典; 即 “上帝使信徒能够在恩典中成长的途径--
恩典是上帝白白赐给我们的礼物。。 然而，我们不是静静地等待上帝行动，而是行一些我们可以做的事 - 基督设立的行动 - 可以成为上帝白白恩典的管道（或途径）。培养这些圣洁的习惯能使我们与耶稣基督建立更亲密的关系。”
这些蒙恩的途径是什么呢？ （1）祈祷; （2）圣经阅读; （3）圣餐; （4）禁食; （5）团契（基督教会议）。对于约翰. 卫斯理来说要成为一个成熟的基督徒不是意外或偶然的现象。高峰经验不能保持恩典中的成长。相反，“上帝通过提供恩典的途径来表达他的信实。” 我们是否通过参与这些蒙恩的途径来表达我们对他的的忠诚？
反思
五个蒙恩途径中哪一个是你最难做到的？为什么？
Reflection
Which of the five do you face the most difficulty with? Why?