HUNGER PAINS

“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. ” I Peter 2:2-3

I’ve never been truly famished, but I have mothered three infants whose howls said they were sure to starve if not fed immediately. My babies would not be pacified (or allow anyone around them to have peace) until they got what they wanted – MILK! They craved it and cried for it. They desired it and they demanded it. Often.

Why? Because God built into babies a longing for what they need. When God grants His gift of eternal life and we are born again, He places in us the same desire. But a big difference exists between a “human baby” and a “holy baby.” A human baby cannot feed himself and must depend on someone else to bring the bottle. Spiritual children can choose their own diet and decide what to take in and what to pass up. As God’s children, we have a desire for the divine, but so often we temporarily satisfy our hunger pains with the shallow treats of this world.

Don’t settle for the shallow. Desire the deep sweetness of the Lord. The very fact that God saved us gives us a taste of His goodness. “O taste and see that the Lord is good,” David urges us in Psalm 34:8. But don’t stop with just a taste; keep on eating. Take in what He says and take note of what He does. Many of God’s gifts can be supplements to our spiritual nutrition, but there is no substitute for His words and our words – for Scripture and prayer. They must be the milk and the meat of our diet.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…”
Don’t let your craving for God be occasional but constant. And don’t be pacified until it is.

Want to want God.
He will satisfy your hungry heart. And life will be delicious.



Time For A Little R&R

REFLECT
What do you crave in life? To what lengths have you gone to satisfy those cravings?

RESPOND
Ask God to help you be hungry for Him.
Start taking in His Word.
The more you eat, the more you’ll want!