Good morning and welcome in. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 1st Peter chapter 2 but before we do that, I wanted to ask you a question.
How many of you like to watch what you eat? In recent years dieting has become all the rage and it really seems to be on the rise. People will count calories and focus on eating things that they feel are healthy for them. In the Christian Life we are supposed to desire Spiritual food found in Gods Holy Word. Instead of focusing so much on what goes into the stomach, we focus on what goes into our hearts.
Dieting consists of making choices about what you are going to consume during you day. What does your diet consist of? As a born-again believer we are supposed to be fed regularly with scripture.
1 Peter 2:1-3 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Do you desire Spiritual milk? Each day people have a desire for some type of knowledge in a topic that interests them. If someone really wants to learn how to be a good cook, they educate themselves by reading cooking magazines and learning how to follow recipes. Others may want to fly an airplane someday so they eagerly enroll in some college courses that teach the principles of aviation. To learn requires a desire for knowledge in the subject. I like fixing and rigging sailboats as a hobby so I like to read articles on the topic.
These things remind me of the Christian Life because to mature in our faith, we have to strongly desire scripture so we can grow into what God wants us to become.
A desire is a strong wish to have something. When you get hungry your desire leads you to a refrigerator to grab something to eat. We need to have a hunger for God’s Word searching earnestly each day to be fed. Our desire for the word of God has to be as strong as a newborn baby looking for milk. When we begin the Christian Life we start a new life and are Spiritually re-born, but now we need to be fed with spiritual food.
As newborn babes……
A newborn is somebody who has been recently born, immature, young, or having just or recently arrived or come into existence.
I’ve always thought of the church as being a spiritual college, where we are educated and brought up in spiritual truth. The Apostle pointed and exhorted Timothy to study and to think deeply about scripture.
1 Timothy 4:13,15 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
While others seek after Earthly riches, people in the church are supposed to desire spiritual treasures of wisdom from God.
Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Growth is a stage or condition in increasing, developing, or maturing. In order to grow, we must be fed a steady diet of scriptural teaching. We must seek after God’s Word like a kitten looks for milk from its mother.
John 3:3 – Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 1:23 – Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Being born again is a process of conversion that happens through belief of the truth. It’s the belief of scripture that causes us to change our worldly way of thinking to the divine way in Christ.
James 1:18 – Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Our lives are purified from sinful living by turning away from lies and believing biblical truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
When you believe in the things of God, change can happen in your life, especially sanctification.
John 17:17 – Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The scriptures are filled with exceedingly great and precious promises but in order to obtain them you have to become a doer of the Word. How can you mature at anything without knowledge and application?
2 Peter 3:18 – But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Like a son with a father, Timothy was being groomed by Paul in the Word of God so that He could eventually grow up in his faith and disciple others in the truth.
Ephesians 4:15 – But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
God’s word is sincere. Sincere means free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings, free of falseness and genuine and real. It is very powerful, and converts the inward parts.
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
To grow and mature in the new life found in Christ, it will require a hunger for God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:16-17. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
We need a steady diet of scriptural teaching combined with our faith to undergo the process of conversion and sanctification.
In this day and age, many people are very concerned with what they eat physically, when the best and most important meal they could consume is Spiritual. Today I ask you all…..
What’s in your Diet?
Let’s think about these things for today and Lord willing, we can talk some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody💟
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