9 December | Youth
«Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.» 1 Peter 2:2, NIV
I have always wondered why I have to read the Bible. Moses did not read the Bible. Enoch never read it. Abraham, God’s friend, never leafed through the pages of the sacred text. It turns out that, in their time, God talked in person with His friends. These people were receiving the Scriptures firsthand. Today, the main way God communicates with us is the Bible.
The Holy Scriptures reveal the truth of God to men. The true God manifests Himself in the pages of this ancient book. The Bible is the starting point of life with God. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life” (John 5:24).
The Bible is the believer’s daily food. It is extremely important that we eat daily at God’s table. Daily Bible reading is important for spiritual growth. Your mother insisted that you eat properly, because she knew the importance of food for your physical growth. Likewise, if you do not read the Bible, you will never grow out of spiritual childhood.
In his book What Matters Most, Tony Evans says that the Bible is the disciple’s “feeding bottle.” I thought this analogy was wonderful. I immediately remembered when my children were babies. They woke up two or three times in the middle of the night. My wife and I hardly got up at the first cry. We usually turned to the other side of the bed and covered our heads, but our child insisted. Our delay caused desperate crying. They knew how to tell us it was time to feed!
Peter says we should feel the same desire. We need to “crave,” that is, we need to feel a desperate desire for God’s Word if we are to grow. In it we find food and nutrition (see John 6:63). When we “eat” the Word of God, we are filled with spiritual strength and vigor. Regular intake of God’s message is a characteristic of the true disciple of Jesus (see John 8:31).
Have you experienced the nutritional value of the Bible each day? I pray that God will help you develop this habit that glorifies the name of the Lord.