MILK OF THE WORD
Like a gentle shepherd, Peter wrote to believers, some of whom were new converts to Jesus. In his first letter, chapter two, he said these encouraging and instructive words:
"Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord."
When a baby anything, human or animal, is born, the first thing it does is open its mouth and search for food. It is born hungry! It is born with the ability to suck and to swallow. It cries when it is hungry!
In natural life we expect an infant to grow because it eats. We check babies' weights before and after a feeding to see if it is eating enough to grow. The first visit to the pediatrician after birth measures the infant's weight which should have increased since its natal day. All is based on its appetite to eat.
Peter likens human infancy to the born-again experience of those who put their trust in Jesus for salvation. He says a new convert should be hungry, simply starved to read and feast on the word of God to feed his soul. Though the word is new and fresh to him or her, it nourishes the new life in that person and they desire more and more!
You may ask how that happens. How does reading the Bible or listening to it being read on a tape or video make a difference in one's spiritual life?
Ask a young woman who is in love why she can't sleep because her boyfriend is going to call or his next letter will arrive soon in the mail. Every communication from him feeds her love for him and deepens it. His words are substance to her heart. She reads and rereads his letters and notes. She looks endearingly at his photo on the table. She thinks again and again about what he said to her on the phone. She can hardly wait to see him again! With all of this, her love for him grows and deepens.
That is the kind of hunger a believer in Jesus should have. Reading the Bible should result in maturity and wisdom in the believer. It does have the effect of bringing a person from infancy to maturity, which Peter sayd:
"You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
The word of God read regularly and often has the effect of making us a holy priesthood to minister before God. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:
"Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God..."
God's ultimate for a new believer is such growth in spiritual understanding and depth of maturity that His own can fight battles with the forces of evil. In Ephesians chapter six Paul lays out the armor a soldier for Jesus wears to battle principalities and powers in the unseen world around us. His armament is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God! He must know the Word and use it in battle.
The military never signs up an elementary school boy to fly an F-16, because he is immature and needs to grow up first! Although that boy plays war games with his friends, he is a long way from fighting with munitions and strategizing tactical maneuvers! He needs to pull up to the table and eat three squares a day, study his lessons as school and get plenty of exercise to strengthen his body. Then he will be fit to join the army when he is mature.
Maturity is what it's all about. Our source of nourishment and instruction is God's word. It is imperative that we read and chew on its words every day so that the Spirit of God who dwells in us can turn God's truths into spiritual muscle and marrow in our spiritual body.
Many of God's people today suffer froms spiritual malnutrition. They do not read the Bible regularly, daily. As a result, they are starved and weak, and set themselves up for being misled into false doctrine. Instead of being equipped to ward off the tactics of the devil, they fall prey to his devices and jeopardize their spiritual life. They risk waking up one day in hell!
Therefore, read the Word! Crave it! Grow up in it! Absorb it into your very heart and mind! Find God in the words you cherish. He is waiting for you there! Find Him!