1 Peter 2:2-3 -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.
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One of the most predictable times around my house for quite a while now has been mornings with my son. Josiah is now almost 9 months old, and he’s quite a joy. While he is constantly learning new things and doing new things, he has one constant: his eating. Whether baby food or apple-juice or milk, this little guy wants to eat when it is time.
Peter is drawing on the hunger, the single-minded and all-encompassing hunger, of babies when he makes his call to us in 1 Peter 2:2-3. He tells us to be like little hungry babies longing for milk. But the milk to which he refers is the milk of spiritual nourishment. Peter wants us to long for solid doctrine, prayer, and the word of God. And he wants us to long for it as much as any screaming baby you have ever heard longs for food.
And notice, if you will, what it is that Peter uses to qualify his statement. He calls us to long for spiritual nourishment if something has happened. We are to long for God if indeed we have tasted that the Lord is good. The first step to making a person long for God is for them to see that experiencing the presence of God is good. If a person does not find God desirable, prayer, Bible study, spiritual disciplines, worship, and the like will not draw them at all.
Today, ask yourself if you have truly tasted that the Lord is good. Do you long for God at a level similar to how you long for the desserts at a Thanksgiving banquet? Do you long for God as much as a steak dinner? Do you hunger for the presence of God in your life? If you do, it is likely that you have already understood that it is good to be in God’s presence and to experience the joy of glorifying his name.
But what if you do not really care? What if you are not truly that concerned about the things of God? I think that, in such a situation, it is fair to assume that you have never truly tasted that the Lord is good. Perhaps you do not know him. Perhaps you have simply forgotten the joy of being in his presence and glorifying his name. In either instance, it is crucial for your soul that you again return to the Lord. It is crucial that you experience something of his glory. It is crucial that you taste and see that the Lord is good. And then let that taste drive you to long for the presence of God.
How do you do this? My first suggestion is to worship the Lord. Look at his word, learn about his character, and give him praise for who he is and what he has done. Take time to prepare your heart for worship on a Sunday morning through prayer and Bible study before you get to church. Then, when you arrive, truly offer God the praise due his name. See if that does not heighten your hunger for more of the presence and glory of God.
Pastor Travis Peterson 