Breastfeeding. You may have just smiled reading that word. Or… you may have cringed. Either one is ok momma. I am currently breastfeeding my third baby. Let me tell you, all three times have been completely different experiences. The one thing that stated constant was that little human’s desire for milk. Recently, while reading through 1 Peter, I came across this verse, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 ESV). The New King James Version has it this way, “as newborn babes, desire the pure spiritual milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,”.
That hit me hard, and in a new way. I’ve read this verse many times before but the Holy Spirit used it in a different way this go around. Did I really crave the word like my infant craved milk? Think about it, when that baby is ready to eat and you are trying your hardest to get that boob in their mouth, how violently they shake their head around with their mouth open trying to “latch”. It’s more stressful than parallel parking. You gotta get that angle just right or you gotta back away and start all over. That baby wants nothing more than you in that moment. Do we have that same type of desire for the word of the Lord?
Similarly, the psalmist says, “As the deer pants for water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God” (Psalm 42:1-2). Does my soul pant for the Lord? If I’m being honest, not always.
Jesus is called “living water” (John 4:7-10) and “bread of life” (John 6:35). Interestingly enough, we cannot survive without food or water. We know when we are hungry because we can feel it. Like that baby can feel when they are hungry. They fight for their right to eat. With such tenacity that they will scream until they can’t breathe to get milk.
So, what does it look like to “long for spiritual milk”? We fight for it. We make time to be in the word. We make time to be with Jesus daily because we cannot live without Him.
What does it feel like to long for spiritual milk? It feels like being hungry. We are weak, we feel the effects of not having nutrition for energy.
Jesus is also referred to as “living water” (John 4:7-10) and “the bread of life” (John 6:35), more nutritional metaphors. Ironically enough, we can’t live without food or water. Think about that. We cannot live without food or water, just like we cannot live eternally without the living water and bread of life, Jesus Christ. If we fed our spiritual selves with the word as often as we fed our physical selves with food and water, imagine the relationship we would have with our Father.
Comments