The post Our Daily Bread: Tasting That The Lord Is Good appeared first on Women Devotions.
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
Is Your Thirst For Daily Bread Like That of a Child’s Thirst For Milk?
I’m very blessed to be able to breastfeed my children. I breastfed my first for 14 months, pushing as long as I possibly could (even through biting and intense pain) until I was absolutely sure my body had stopped producing due to my second pregnancy. And this second child of mine eats A LOT… so I’ve breastfed enough times to observe several things about breastfeeding…at least with my own kids.
It’s an amazing process that our God designed. Now I know there are intense debates surrounding this topic so I am not shaming any woman who physically cannot or does not breastfeed for whatever reason.
I think one thing we can all agree on is that a newborn’s thirst for food is intense! One minute they are sound asleep, and the next they are screaming their brains out as if you have never fed them before. In fact, my husband often jokes about this and says to me “are you going to feed the baby, he is starving to death!”.
Our relationship with the Father and our thirst for daily bread through His Word and prayer should be like that of a child drinking his milk. Here are 3 actions I have observed my son does that I think we should apply when we hunger for the daily bread of life.
1. He longs for his milk.
“Like newborn infants, long for the Pure Spiritual Milk,” 1 Peter 2:2
Do you long for the pure spiritual milk (daily bread)? My son is so hungry for my milk. He craves it and his frustration quickly escalates when he is not fed quickly. But as soon as he is in position to eat and begins the process, he instantly relaxes. It’s not just the milk he enjoys but being close to me, having (semi) alone time with me, and feeling my embrace.
Are we like that? Do we crave to be in God’s presence? Do we long for it, thinking about the next time we can spend quiet time with God? Do you become frustrated when you aren’t able to be in His Word or do you shrug it off thinking you’ll just find time to read tomorrow?
2. He fills himself up.
“…that by it you may grow up into salvation…” 1 Peter 2:2
My son’s a big boy. He was born at 8lbs 6oz, returned to his birth weight within two days of being home, and then gained about a pound a week for a little bit. He was 14 lbs at his 2-month appointment and was already wearing 6-month clothes.
Now at 4 months, he is already 17 pounds. Needless to say, it is obvious to all that he likes to eat. Almost everyone that sees him says he’s a big boy or makes a joke that he doesn’t really like to eat, does he? Someone even said when he was 2 months that it looked like he ate a 2-month-old!
Are we well-fed like this? Are we learning and growing more each week? Do we fill our bodies, minds, and spirits full of daily bread? Is it apparent to all when they see us that we are becoming more like Christ, radiating His light? Or do our actions show that we are actually starving because we’re not feeding from His Word enough?
1 Peter 2:2 says that the pure spiritual milk will grow us up into salvation. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and faithful reading of His Word, it should be so obvious to all that we are not only lovers of Christ but are well-fed with biblical knowledge. For how can we grow up if we are not feeding ourselves daily with bread? My son will not continue to grow if I stop feeding him, and neither will we if we starve ourselves from time with God.
3. He savors every moment with me.
“If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:3
My son savors his feeding. Since his older sister is still under two, my attention is divided and a lot of times he is the one who is lacking enough of it. So he knows his feeding time is a special time with Mommy. His posture and expressions indicate how much he enjoys his feeding. When he’s finished, he appears relaxed and at peace. He sometimes falls asleep and sometimes looks at me with his big brown eyes, both showing how much trust he has with me. It’s really a beautiful interaction. I provide (by God’s gracious blessing) what he needs, he takes it in, enjoys it, and enjoys me. He looks at me with such affection and admiration.
Are we savoring every moment we spend with the Lord? Do you enjoy the actual words God has written? His story, blessings, sovereignty, generosity, and loving kindness is truly incredible. When we spend time with Him filling our spirits with His daily bread, we will feel the way my son does…relaxed and loved. We will feel at peace and leave our quiet time with a satisfied heart as my son does a satisfied tummy.
Jesus taught this too.
In fact, the prayer that Jesus used to teach us how to pray includes the very words “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6-9-13).
Some other verses eluding to filling yourselves with spiritual food are:
John 4:14 “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 6:55-59 “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.”
Here are several things my baby boy does NOT do that we sometimes do when reading the Word:
1. He does not eat real fast so he can check it off the list.
2. He does not spend his day doing other things all the while knowing he should eat and then do it for 10 minutes total at the end of the day.
I’m not saying we can’t read our Bible at the end of the day. But if we think about how many minutes a day we’re given and how much we need the Lord throughout the day, it’s a shame if we wait ONLY until the day is over to be fed and then give ourselves a snack. We need our daily bread.
3. He can’t seem to get enough. He always wants more.
I pray we crave for God the way my son craves to be fed. That we would not accept silly replacements, such as time on social media, TV, etc. when we’re hungry for His Word. I pray that it will be obvious to all that we are followers of Christ, not for our own sake, but to fulfill Matthew 5:16. And I pray that we would indeed know that goodness of the Lord and tasted how good He is (Psalm 34:8).
Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
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