I like Peter. He keeps things pretty simple. In fact today he encourages us to just stick to the basics. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation . . . .”
Being a Christian is not about us being mature – although we want to grow and mature in our faith. Being a Christian is not about the choices we make – it’s about a choice that God made to redeem us. Being a Christian is not about having our lives all together so that now we see what the poor unwashed masses around us do not – like we have secret knowledge.
At some point we need to recognize our helplessness in the whole scheme of salvation – and that is something that, as a man, I don’t like to think about. Men are supposed to be self sufficient, strong, and – if you’re an American, too – self-reliant. The problem is that these are all half-truths. None of us, male or female, were ever made to walk alone. And all of us were created to depend on God.
So Peter encourages us to crave the pure spiritual milk. What is that? It is the message of God’s love for us in Jesus. It is the message that although we were separated from God because of our sin, God has drawn close to us to redeem us. It is the message that God has called us out of darkness and brought us into His light, and we have received mercy from Him! It is the old, old, story that Jesus bore our sins on the cross and we are healed by his wounds.
We should live differently because of this. This is God’s gift to us. We died to sin in Jesus’ death, now we live for Him. And there are times where we seem to be doing just that! “I’ve left sin behind. I’m growing! I’m becoming more mature!” Then, BANG!, we’re right back at the beginning, we’ve stumbled, we’ve . . . whatever . . . and we need milk.
We never stopped needing it. It was only us who thought we’d outgrown it.
Peter says that we are like sheep that have gone astray. Friends, sheep are dumb. My best friend in grade school, Mark, had a farm and had sheep. Every day, when he went to feed the cows and slop the pigs, one of those sheep ran to the fence and stuck its head through to Mark. Every day that sheep got it’s head stuck in the fence. Every day Mark had to wrestle with the sheep and the fence to get the sheep loose.
Unfortunately we all have a bit of sheep in us. We keep coming back and doing exactly what hurt us before. But we have a patient Good Shepherd who lovingly forgives us and returns us to His flock.
Got milk? Thank God we do because of Jesus!
Being a Christian is not about us being mature – although we want to grow and mature in our faith. Being a Christian is not about the choices we make – it’s about a choice that God made to redeem us. Being a Christian is not about having our lives all together so that now we see what the poor unwashed masses around us do not – like we have secret knowledge.
At some point we need to recognize our helplessness in the whole scheme of salvation – and that is something that, as a man, I don’t like to think about. Men are supposed to be self sufficient, strong, and – if you’re an American, too – self-reliant. The problem is that these are all half-truths. None of us, male or female, were ever made to walk alone. And all of us were created to depend on God.
So Peter encourages us to crave the pure spiritual milk. What is that? It is the message of God’s love for us in Jesus. It is the message that although we were separated from God because of our sin, God has drawn close to us to redeem us. It is the message that God has called us out of darkness and brought us into His light, and we have received mercy from Him! It is the old, old, story that Jesus bore our sins on the cross and we are healed by his wounds.
We should live differently because of this. This is God’s gift to us. We died to sin in Jesus’ death, now we live for Him. And there are times where we seem to be doing just that! “I’ve left sin behind. I’m growing! I’m becoming more mature!” Then, BANG!, we’re right back at the beginning, we’ve stumbled, we’ve . . . whatever . . . and we need milk.
We never stopped needing it. It was only us who thought we’d outgrown it.
Peter says that we are like sheep that have gone astray. Friends, sheep are dumb. My best friend in grade school, Mark, had a farm and had sheep. Every day, when he went to feed the cows and slop the pigs, one of those sheep ran to the fence and stuck its head through to Mark. Every day that sheep got it’s head stuck in the fence. Every day Mark had to wrestle with the sheep and the fence to get the sheep loose.
Unfortunately we all have a bit of sheep in us. We keep coming back and doing exactly what hurt us before. But we have a patient Good Shepherd who lovingly forgives us and returns us to His flock.
Got milk? Thank God we do because of Jesus!
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