Feed the Need

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." 1 Peter 2:2-3

Breast milk is best! For those of us able and willing to breast feed, it is both rewarding and fulfilling.


I'm an old-fashioned mother in a new-fashioned world. My ministry is my home. This standard is snubbed by a self-gratifying philosophy embedded in the world and unfortunately, Christian homes.

I am not here to align my values with the world. My life mirrors what I value the most - God's opinion.

As I read these verses, I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on God's poetic phrasing. I'm not sure how you are wired, but for me to embrace the truth, I meditated on breast feeding. Why did God choose the parallel between nursing and the Believer's ultimate goal? Prior to man's fall in the garden, our sincere desire was to seek God. He was the object of our pursuit. God alone satisfied our cravings and our needs.


When man made a choice to sin, our desire to do right vaporized. The result is that our running shoes are pointed in the opposite direction from God. Our ways mirror our wants. For the most part, we want what we want not what He wants! Our desire is no longer focused on the pursuit of our Creator. What drives us is 'self.'

Seeking God does not come naturally. A resolve to pursue God will give us the pleasure and fulfillment we need. We were created for a relationship with God. No thanks to Eve, and we must now retrain our senses and our motives - "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word..."

Getting back to basics is a great precursor to getting back to God. For most of my life as a Believer I'm regularly going backwards in my thinking to grow forward in my understanding. Going backwards represents getting back to basics or being "As newborn babes..."

When Caleb was born he immediately desired breast milk. For a long time I felt like I was a jersey cow rather than a woman. All he wanted was mama's milk. He did not have to articulate this. I knew by the wriggling arms and legs.

As a newborn baby, if I were to offer him a banana he would still have chosen breast milk. If I had offered him a piece of chocolate, he would still have chosen breast milk. There WAS no replacement for what he needed and what his heart desired.

It occurred to me that this is uniquely how God wants us to desire His Words and the nourishment they provide for every Believer. Without His Word we are weakened and malnourished as Christians.

Over time, Caleb's growth became apparent. His clothes were not shrinking. He began to expand and strengthen. What I provided as a mother was precisely what Caleb needed to grow strong and develop properly. The Bible is the sincere milk we must all drink from. When we decline to spend time reading the Word of God, we forfeit knowing Him more and growing in our faith. Would you expect a baby to grow without the nutrients he/she needs? How then can we anticipate joy when we don't have the fuel to move forward?

"It is little, says he, which I know of myself, less of God, least of Jesus Christ: Oh! That by conversing with His Word, I might know him more, and serve Him better."

We must all reach a place in our walk with God where we are active and operate on a desire to feed from His precious Book. The endeavor of every sincere Believer ought to be the Word of God: we find food to strengthen us---we can never be satisfied without it---we cannot be satisfied with a little of it.

The Lord is gracious! His Word ought to be the Christian's delight.

"How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth" Psalm 119:103

You will never regret getting into His Word each day. In fact, the growing Christian will regret that they negected to read it.

I Love You
Deborah