Got Milk? Need Something Else?

1 Peter 2:1-3 (New International Version)
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

If you’ve ever been around a baby, you know that every few hours, they gotta eat. They will let you know about it too. I’m not talking about Steak and Potatoes either. Babies hunger for their milk. Jesus’ apostle Peter is reminding Christians throughout Asia and the world how their children -- their babies act when they’re hungry. Peter wants us to be like our children -- to hunger for the word, and to get upset when we can’t get it. For by it, he knows that we will continue to grow and mature as proper Christians. He also knows that without it, we will quickly die spiritually.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (New International Version)
1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

Here Jesus’ apostle Paul reprimands the Corinthians for their continued child-like spirituality. After enough time, they should have grown and developed into more mature Christians, who should have been ready for more mature discussions in God’s word. Instead, Paul must still talk to them as spiritual children who have not yet grasped the fundamentals of their beliefs.

Hebrews 5:12-14 (New International Version)
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Again we see another discouraged teacher and his student’s child-like behavior. The Hebrew writer was scolding the Jewish Christians for their lack of knowledge. They had forgotten the subjects that were the foundation of their Christianity. They could not progress into mature Christians and become teachers of His word.

My prayer is that we open His word daily. That we pray for God’s wisdom and understanding of His word so that we would know His will for us. That we would not remain as children, but that we would mature properly in His word. That we would become teachers of His word and bring the message of hope to the world.

Are you listening to what God is saying in His Word?