Crave Like a Baby

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” (I Peter 2:2, italics mine)

Right here. This. The significance of why, as born-again believers in Christ, we must “crave pure spiritual milk.” The absolute necessity of a desperate desire to know the Bible, and the absolute cruciality of its consumption.

And, not just occasionally—only here and there when we feel like it, only when the notion strikes, or only when our filled-up life permits—but making it as much a daily routine as a helpless, dependent baby whose life and well-being are contingent upon a continuous intake of nourishing milk. Oh-so-needed, oh-so-satisfying, life-giving milk.

Very clearly, Peter communicates the significance of doing so in I Peter 2:2: It’s so that we “grow up in [our] salvation.” So that you and I become mature children of God, which is the Father's will for every follower of Christ.

Here's the bottom line:

Without consistent consumption of God's Word (then, our willful submission to its truths, permitting His Holy Spirit to alter our thinking and behavior), our spiritual growth is naturally hindered; and over time, what results is obvious malnourishment—spiritual lethargy, weakness, and lifelessness, a stunted, immature Christian life that doesn't function in the transformation and fullness of Jesus' resurrection power. Certainly, this is not the abundant, life-giving existence that Christ’s sacrificial atonement makes attainable. Most certainly, not the spiritual vigor and vigilance this world desperately needs to encounter as time swiftly moves toward the Savior's imminent return.

And, this is exactly what Satan, "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), wants and why he furiously prowls throughout this fast-paced, distraction-driven planet, decieving believers into thinking that their Christian life is just fine with an occasional, moderate intake of Scripture and, thus, obliviously exist soul-screaming, like a starved baby, in desperate need of nourishment. Because the food of this world never satisfies, supplies, seasons, and sustains as only the food from the Lord's table can.

Fellow believer, as we move into this New Year, may this not be so of us.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever:

the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:

sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned:

and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Psalm 119:7-11