An Appetite for the Word of God
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1 Peter 2:2-3
Every one of our ten babies loved to eat. If they didn’t have an appetite, then it was a clue that something wasn’t quite right. The same is true for us, spiritually. Like a baby yearns for milk, you need to have an intense desire for the pure, uncontaminated Word of God, so that “by it you may grow.” Peter’s admonition stresses that a key to spiritual growth is the regular application of Scripture, whereby we put off sin (1 Peter 2:1) and put on the Word. To seek the Lord with your whole heart, your spiritual affections and appetites need to be governed by the Word. When they line up with Scripture then godly actions become part of your character and you grow toward maturity in Christ.
How would you describe your appetite for the Word? Do you treasure Scripture more than food? Do you delight to meditate on it? Is it your daily bread? According to today’s verses, hunger for the Word of God will help you “grow up into salvation.” This does not refer to growing into being saved (as if any of us could earn our salvation through good works), but it speaks of spiritual growth as the outworking of the salvation that you have already received in your heart. In other words, “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good,” that is, you have experienced the saving grace of God, then you need to crave the Word of God to grow in Christ.
Read further: Psalm 1
