Every Friday, around 3 am, a delivery of fresh milk arrives at our door. The milkman (or milkwoman, I’m never awake to see), leaves cold glass bottles in a cooler on our porch. My wife and I both enjoy milk, and this is some of the best I’ve ever tasted. One swallow and I was hooked. After arriving home from a long trip I always crave a swig of this fresh from the dairy treat.

Peter encouraged followers of Jesus to yearn for milk as well. Like newborn babes, 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.

These youthful followers of Jesus needed the unadulterated truth of God’s Word to grow healthy and strong. The teachings of Jesus and the Prophets scoured malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander—the ways of the world—from their souls.

A diet of heavy meats and strong alcohol corrupts the body. A regime of social media and self-centered philosophies corrupts the soul. Even knowing this to be true, it’s hard to turn away.

So lacking willpower of my own, I ask God to shift my cravings. Then I might choose pure spiritual milk, the healthier option for my soul.

1 Peter 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Kim Leary