Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. — 1 Peter 2:2-3
I can remember when milk was delivered by a milkman right to our front door—in glass milk bottles, no less. We would order our milk and other dairy products a few days ahead of time and the milkman would always arrive early in the morning—the dogs would let us know that. I still recall the thick cream at the top that you could scoop up with your finger—and often did!
I know, I’m out of the Ozzie and Harriet generation but those were kind of fun days as a youth. Many times I remember coming in the house out of the summertime heat and grabbing a nice cold quart-sized bottle of milk out of the Frigidaire and chugging it down—often leaving a white mustache as lingering evidence.
A few years ago the milk industry embarked on an advertising campaign to encourage everyone to drink more milk by promoting its health qualities. Celebrities like Amy Grant, Billy Joe Cyrus, Michael Jordan and even Batman and Superman were seen in ads promoting drinking milk. Everyone had a “milk mustache.” There was even a website called, GotMilk.com, that was totally dedicated to making sure that cows got the credit for giving us the stuff. Now it’s cows telling us to “Eat Mor Chikin,” but that’s another story.
The apostle Peter, using the analogy of how important physical milk is to human health and growth, tells us that spiritual milk is critical to the believer for growth and maturity. Milk is figurative for the word of God. A major characteristic of a healthy new baby is its instinctive yearning or craving for its mother’s milk. The unrestrained hunger of a baby provides an example of the kind of eager desire for spiritual food that should mark the believer who wants to grow in the Lord. The word of God consists of more than just words—it is literally life giving.
Jesus said this about God’s word, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The writer to the Hebrews put it like this, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12). One of the Lord’s final prayers at the Last Supper ended like this, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth” (John 17:17).
I hope and pray that every time you gather together for a church service, you will hear a sermon directly from God’s word. Perhaps your church also has a Sunday School hour where you could have another opportunity to hear the Bible taught. If available, join a small group that meets during the week to study Scripture and if there is a Men’s or Women’s Bible study, sign up so that you may receive the nourishment that will help you “grow into a full experience of God’s salvation and taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
So consider this your invitation or a reminder to make every effort to hear, read, study and apply the absolute truths of God’s word, the Bible, to your life. You will find them nowhere else.
“Got Milk?” I’ve told you where to find it. God bless. Maranatha!
To help us walk closer with God and to know Him better.
