Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Just a couple of months ago, I became a grandparent. It's so fun—a little baby is so cute. She's a cute little girl, she coos, and she grabs little things. But one thing I know that she does—that every baby does—is she cries. She cries because oftentimes she's hungry. She's really, really hungry. That's the sign of a healthy baby. As you think about this and walk over into the spiritual realm, our Verse of the Day talks exactly about the importance of spiritual hunger.
It comes from 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 2. It says, "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."
Crave the Word of God
Peter is writing to those who are scattered, and he says in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12, "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial that is coming upon you, as though something strange is happening to you." He's writing to people who need encouragement and hope. Then he comes into chapter 2 and talks about two very important principles.
Number one: crave the Word of God. That's exactly what it means—to have this internal, instinctual hunger for the Word of God, and to do it like a baby longs for the milk of its mother. Why do we want to crave God's Word? Because we want to feed on the truth of the Word of God so that, as the verse says, we can grow into salvation. Healthy things grow. Now, there's something amazing about this verse. Peter doesn't say study the Bible, read the Bible, meditate on the Bible—all those things are important and good and necessary. He says crave. That leads us to our second point.
Confess Your Sin
The verse right before it, verse 1, is linked into verse 2 in the original language, and it says this: "Therefore, putting aside all malice"—which means a quality of badness—"guile"—meaning deception—"hypocrisy"—the idea of play-acting or being two-faced—"envy"—to be jealous—"and slander." Peter says we must put these sins aside in verse 1. We must confess those in order to have the hunger of verse 2. This is incredible. With all the things the Bible says about spiritual disciplines—reading, studying, meditating—Peter says long for the pure milk of the Word of God. If we're not craving, there's something going on back in verse 1. Think about it. What areas of your life hold malice, or guile, or where we're not being truthful or honest, or there's hypocrisy, or envy, or slander? Whatever it is, those sins in your life and mine are cutting away and diminishing our hunger for the Word of God.
Grow in Grace and Knowledge
2 Peter chapter 3, verse 18 says to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ—and we can't grow if we're not hungry. It's a sad thing when folks have anorexia, and one of the basic ways they can help themselves is very simply to eat. For you and me spiritually, our hunger for the Scriptures will cause us to really feast on this book that's before us. As you think about your life, may you and I hunger for the Word of God—because we really want to know the God of the Bible, and the Lord Jesus Christ to whom it points.
