March 20, 2015
Feeding a Newborn
1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Nursing a baby is the best thing God invented. I feel so sorry for women who give in to the modern idea that nursing is too time consuming, outdated, or gross. It’s none of those things. And these modern conceptions about nursing even predate modern times. Wet nurses existed in ancient times for the mother who couldn’t nurse for health or status reasons. Our society replaced wet nurses with formula. Either way, these mommies are missing out on a wonderful and beneficial activity. There is nothing to do while you’re nursing. It is built in relaxation time where no one disturbs you because no one can do what you’re doing. How kind for God to give moms little breaks like this several times per day!
But the real benefit is for the baby. Nursed babies get wonderful nutrition. My own observations lead me to conclude that nursed babies are more content because their meals are very satisfying. They sleep better and wake up happy. All of the colic-y babies I have ever encountered had formula in common. I’m sure someone reading this is trying really hard to find an exception, but formula is a substitute for the real thing. God’s system for nourishing a brand new little life is perfect, and that’s why craving “pure spiritual milk” is the illustration used to represent God’s Word to a brand new heart following Jesus.
The straight Word of God gives us what we need for life and for being content just like a nursed baby. The baby trying to grow by receiving something that is someone else’s idea of nutrition and made in a lab most likely isn’t going to experience the same benefits from pure milk straight from the source. They’re also missing out on the quiet bonding time, rest, and contentment that is automatically built into feeding time.
Grow in full experience of salvation... As God intended. Sure, many Believers get influenced by clever speakers and popular ideology, but it isn’t necessary for the “rich full life” that Jesus came to give. (See John 10:10) All we need is what God already provided in his Word, and we enter in some built in quiet time with him when we set everything aside and read it and pray. And a daily dose of this interaction makes us big and strong over time.
God has given new babies a very simple way to receive everything they need to eventually grow big and strong through their moms. In the same way, God has given new Believers a very simple way to get everything they need to grow in their faith through his Word. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3
Dear God,
Thank you for the opportunity to nurse a baby. It is a wonderful portrait to me of the simplest thing providing necessary benefits just like your Word does for my heart. And thank you that both things are absolutely free! You are so available and so kind, and the systems you develop are amazing as they promote the most growth, strength, and rest. I love you, I love your character, I love who you are and what you’ve done in my life. Thank you for operating simply so that a simple person like me can receive so much benefit and joy. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Feeding a Newborn
1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Nursing a baby is the best thing God invented. I feel so sorry for women who give in to the modern idea that nursing is too time consuming, outdated, or gross. It’s none of those things. And these modern conceptions about nursing even predate modern times. Wet nurses existed in ancient times for the mother who couldn’t nurse for health or status reasons. Our society replaced wet nurses with formula. Either way, these mommies are missing out on a wonderful and beneficial activity. There is nothing to do while you’re nursing. It is built in relaxation time where no one disturbs you because no one can do what you’re doing. How kind for God to give moms little breaks like this several times per day!
But the real benefit is for the baby. Nursed babies get wonderful nutrition. My own observations lead me to conclude that nursed babies are more content because their meals are very satisfying. They sleep better and wake up happy. All of the colic-y babies I have ever encountered had formula in common. I’m sure someone reading this is trying really hard to find an exception, but formula is a substitute for the real thing. God’s system for nourishing a brand new little life is perfect, and that’s why craving “pure spiritual milk” is the illustration used to represent God’s Word to a brand new heart following Jesus.
The straight Word of God gives us what we need for life and for being content just like a nursed baby. The baby trying to grow by receiving something that is someone else’s idea of nutrition and made in a lab most likely isn’t going to experience the same benefits from pure milk straight from the source. They’re also missing out on the quiet bonding time, rest, and contentment that is automatically built into feeding time.
Grow in full experience of salvation... As God intended. Sure, many Believers get influenced by clever speakers and popular ideology, but it isn’t necessary for the “rich full life” that Jesus came to give. (See John 10:10) All we need is what God already provided in his Word, and we enter in some built in quiet time with him when we set everything aside and read it and pray. And a daily dose of this interaction makes us big and strong over time.
God has given new babies a very simple way to receive everything they need to eventually grow big and strong through their moms. In the same way, God has given new Believers a very simple way to get everything they need to grow in their faith through his Word. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3
Dear God,
Thank you for the opportunity to nurse a baby. It is a wonderful portrait to me of the simplest thing providing necessary benefits just like your Word does for my heart. And thank you that both things are absolutely free! You are so available and so kind, and the systems you develop are amazing as they promote the most growth, strength, and rest. I love you, I love your character, I love who you are and what you’ve done in my life. Thank you for operating simply so that a simple person like me can receive so much benefit and joy. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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