1 Peter 2: 2 – 3
Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Yesterday, we looked at the foundational scriptures John 1: 1 & 14. They are bedrock, that upon which we build. Today’s passage is one of the bricks which is laid upon the foundation. Now that we know that Jesus is the Word and that the Word is living and powerful, we are instructed to desire it like babies crave milk. It is our sustenance. It is that which gives us life and causes us to grow. I also like the Passion Translation version of this passage. It reads, “In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life— especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.”
Has the Passion Translation hit upon a goal of yours? Do you desire to “grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life?” I hope your response is “Yes,” and I believe it is, otherwise you would not read a devotional daily. One thing I personally like about this devotional is that it is based on the Word. To me that means the even if you don’t read the part I write, you get a bit of Word every day. You have a verse that comes right to your inbox each morning and you can spend the rest of the day pondering it and finding what it means to you. That is really the key piece. Every day I seek God on what verse He would have me send and what He would have me write but then we get the bonus track. That is the part He conveys to you directly. The Word of the Day may be your jumping off point to a whole day of communing with Him. I love that, and I am always interested in hearing what the Lord has said to you.
When God gave me this to do back in 2006, He had His reasons for beginning it with His Word. I like to think of it as receiving two words from the Lord each day; the first one is His written Word and the second is what He gives me to write. I hope, pray and expect the part that I write to be a rhema word every day. Often it is an idea or nuance which is new to me and that is always exciting. I have journaled verses before just between me and Father and received revelation on it but then when I used that same verse for the Word of the Day it came out completely differently. That tells me that He is on the job writing and supervising.
You can take the verse I send you and journal it with Dad. He will tell you things He did not tell me or sometimes He will expound on what I sent. He has more to show you and more to say and every Word we receive from Him helps us grow and mature. That should be a goal each of us desires. The only way to gain that maturity is the sup on the milk of the Word. So, get as much milk as you can. Crave it like newborns crave milk.