Some of you know (and if you don’t, I’m more than happy to tell you!) that my first grandchild came into this world a few months ago. It’s incredibly surreal to watch my grown son with a boy of his own, and it’s incredibly wonderful beyond words. The little guy is starting to smile and giggle, but beyond that, he doesn’t do much yet. However, he drinks milk, which is something he’s done from the very beginning.

 

In my regular Bible reading time this week, I just so happened to notice the following verse: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3). That led me to consider the relationship between the mother’s milk for physical human babies and the “Father’s milk,” if you will, of God’s Word for spiritual babies.

 

While my grandson grows, what if his parents teach him all the principles of walking, but he never takes a single step? What if they show him every word in the dictionary, but he never speaks a word himself? What if they explain the importance of brushing his teeth, but he never actually grabs a toothbrush? What if they demonstrate the proper way to take a shower, but he just runs the water and never steps foot into it, making his parents think he showered, when he did not (my grown son may have a story about that from his younger years)! If those things took place, my grandson would grow in age and size, but he would still be an infant in terms of his ability to live life.

 

As ridiculous as those examples sound, I wonder if those of us who follow Jesus do something similar in our spiritual lives. D. L. Moody, the well-known evangelist and Christian educator, was quoted with these words: The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.” In the hypothetical scenarios with my grandson, he would gain all the knowledge he needs, and it would essentially do him no good. For those of us who believe in Jesus, we can take in the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word with an open heart. We can memorize it. We can meditate on it. And once we do those things, we’ll have all kinds of Bible knowledge. And if that’s all we do, we won’t be much better off than my grandson would be. The ultimate goal is for God to use the Bible to save us and to change our lives.

 

It’s critical for us to read and study God’s Word, but we do not become mature until we intentionally and continually put that learning into practice. If we believe that the Bible is our ultimate authority in life, and that it offers the only way for us to change our lives for the better, then we will drink that spiritual milk by doing what it says, to the best of our ability.

 

I get to see my grandson and his parents tonight. I bought some big, fresh, yummy cookies for all of us to enjoy after dinner. I wonder what I’ll be craving to wash down those delicious treats? Got milk?

 

Troy Burns