That was harsh! Hebrews 6:1-9

Hebrews 5:11-14, that was harsh; why was it necessary? Because it's time to grow up! What happens if an infant stops growing? He/she cannot survive.
Grow or perish.
So, is the provoking talk necessary? Absolutely.
The Hebrew believers who've understood the message of the Gospel of Christ and experienced God at work, MUST continue to grow in that understanding and experience. No matter how discouraging and defeating the times feel, if a Christian stops growing, He/she cannot survive.
Grow or perish.
If there is anything I have learned about the "Christian" life it is that it is an ongoing process.
We must be brave.
We must battle on.
There is no life in going back.
The harsh words of chapter 5: 11-6:8 are an intense warning, not from judgment or disgust but from godly men who love God's people:
v.9 "But, BELOVED, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way...
v.10 For God is not unjust..."

Christians have been brave for millennia. We will read this in Hebrews 11. But for now, be encouraged by these:

"I have given Him my faith and sworn my allegiance to Him, how then can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor?" John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress -1678

Christian's journey to the "Celestial City" takes him over the "Hill of Difficulty", through the "Valley of Humiliation" and through "The Valley of the Shadow of Death". Those whom he met along the way, in choosing other paths, never made it.

1	I’m pressing on the upward way, New heights I’m gaining every day; Still praying as I onward bound, “Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
2	My heart has no desire to stay Where doubts arise and fears dismay; Though some may dwell where these abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

                                                                                               Johnson Oatman- 1898