1 Peter 2:2-3

"You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness."

We read this verse in the "Living By the Book" class that Rusty is teaching on Sunday nights, and it struck me anew.
I love that the Lord continually uses similies and metaphors that are meaningful to mothers! This one is incredibly meaningful.
For mothers of young children, you know EXACTLY what it's like to have a hungry, crying baby.
I'll describe it for you younger ladies.
Hungry, crying babies are single-minded. They are desperate. They cannot be distracted or moved. Nothing will make the crying stop or soothe them besides MILK! If you are nursing you better get yourself in position and get your clothes off as fast as you can, because that baby needs to EAT! (Also because your milk is dropping because you hear your baby crying, and if you were like me, you are already soaking wet, but that is so off the point.)
A really hungry baby will send you into a frenzy to get them fed and in a hurry. The sound of their cry is so urgent, and even the sweetest, most docile babies will become super demanding when they are hungry! You can try giving them something else...a pacifier, some water, turn on their mobile, walk and bounce and sing, and do tricks on your head...nothing works! You cannot satisfy that baby with anything but the real thing! And that baby is right. He needs milk. Nothing else will do.
And babies who are good feeders will grow right before your eyes! They will literally wake-up looking bigger than when you put them down the night before. Take Treston, who was 6 weeks early. Anybody who has seen him would not guess that in a million years. Why? Because the boy likes to eat! He has been nourished!
Peter is saying here that we should be exactly like that!
We should wake-up starving for His Word each day.
I should not be distracted by a load of laundry that needs to be started, something that needs to be cleaned, lesson plans that need to be looked at, and e-mails not yet returned when I wake-up in the morning.
We should be SINGLE-MINDED. We should be starving for His Word! We should be desperate to grow.
Because a baby who is not growing is a very serious and alarming problem. It should also be serious and alarming if we are not growing in the fullness of our salvation, as Peter puts it.
I wake-up every morning when it's still dark outside because I have an appointment with God. But I want to be sure that I am desperate and as focused a hungry newborn baby. Many times I am not. I want to grow as fast as Treston has! Wouldn't that be amazing? I want to devour His Word like a hungry baby devours his milk when he finally gets it.
Because I have tasted the Lord's kindness, and it is SO GOOD!