…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:2-3
The New Testament repeatedly utilizes the concept of hunger and thirst as an analogy for the attitude we must have towards the word of God. It is common knowledge that one of the most critical endeavors in human life is the effort to secure food and water to sustain our bodies. Just as the body cannot live without physical nourishment, so the soul cannot live without spiritual nourishment. Jesus came as the source of this spiritual nourishment without which none of our souls can live (John 4:5-14; 6:22-59). When He did, He brought the assurance that those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). The key is to be sure we have a healthy appetite for the righteousness of God.
As Peter put it, this hunger and thirst should be akin to that of a newborn baby seeking its mother’s milk (1 Peter 2:2-3). All who have been around a hungry baby can grasp the level of intensity this image calls for in our desire for the word. Nothing will ever satisfy that baby until it gets its fill of its mother’s milk. In the same way, nothing will ever satisfy the hungry soul until it gets its fill of the word of God. If a baby loses interest in its mother’s milk, alarm bells go off in the minds of all who care for the child, and efforts to get the child the help it needs are swift and relentless. The same is true when adults lose their appetite as it indicates something is wrong internally. Such should be the case when the children of God lose our hunger and thirst for His word. We must seek help immediately should this happen, and we must offer help immediately should we see it come upon a brother or sister in Christ.
Just as it is impossible for children to grow without sufficient nourishment, so it is impossible for our souls to grow without the soul food the Lord provides. This is a process that develops and changes over time, so we must adapt our diets as the needs change over time. Children begin by consuming all the milk they can until they develop to the point of needing solid food. Children of God begin with the milk of the word, but over time we must mature until we can consume the meat of the word, the deeper principles of God’s holiness (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:11-6:2). Just as there is no shortcut in a child’s physical development, neither is there any shortcut in our spiritual development.
Another point we must give proper weight to is the imperative of consuming the proper diet. Notice Peter’s words again as he demanded they desire the “sincere” (KJV, NKJV) or the “pure” (ESV) milk of the word. The word translated as “sincere” or “pure” means something that has no admixture of other elements. Thayer describes it as something that is “unmixed, unadulterated.” This is significant as our religious world has mixed all sorts of ideas with the milk of the word. Just as we would never want to feed our children impure milk/meat, neither should we ever be satisfied with impure spiritual food. This demands careful inspection of what we take into our souls (cf. Matthew 7:15-20; John 6:53-58; 8:31-32; Acts 17:11).
This week offers us a host of additional opportunities to consume the spiritual nourishment the Lord provides. Here at C-street, our gospel meeting provides our souls four extra meals as each evening our good brother Steve Higginbotham will preach the word to us. Also, down the road just a little way, the Tri-cities School of Preaching and Christian Development has their lectureship this week making such spiritual nourishment available throughout the day and into the evening from Sunday through Wednesday. Of course, nothing can replace our personal Bible study, but isn’t it nice to know we have so many opportunities this week to feed our souls? Let’s eat!