1 Peter 2 - Intensely Crave
1 Peter 2 - Intensely Crave
Here is chapter two, we see that Peter opens with “Therefore,” this is an excellent reminder for us all that these chapters are more for us as readers, to have breaks and a bit of a logical structure for the Bible, they did not exist in the original text. Remember, this is a letter written by Peter to churches in Roman provinces; he didn’t have chapters in his personal letters.
So, when we come to chapter two, and we start with, therefore, to get a complete understanding of what Peter is transitioning to, we must look at where we were in his previous thought. Let’s take a look;
“Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.” - 1 Peter 1:21-25 NIV
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, 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.” - 1 Peter 2:1-3 NIV
So here we can see Peter’s full thoughts connecting. The closing of chapter 1 flows right into the opening of chapter two. Let’s break this down a bit.
> You believe in God, and the resurrection of Jesus
> You are walking with Him, and loving others
> You are born again, and will live eternally
> This is what has been preached to us.
Therefore...or, because of all of this! We take this “Be Holy” line of thinking into chapter two, and Peter takes us somewhere vital with it. Let’s reread it and in a different version.
“So abandon every form of evil, deceit, hypocrisy, feelings of jealousy and slander. In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life— especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.” - 1 Peter 2:1-3 TPT
This message is directly to me, and if you are a Christ-follower, this message if for you. This message is specifically for anyone who might be cast out, in exile, walking through disunity, challenges, etc. Remember who Peter is writing, and the situation they were in exiles.
Ok, let me stop right here and get something out that I am feeling. In light of the rage, anger, and the evil of racism in our country, does this messaging speak to this topic? I believe it does, and I believe it addresses it front and center. Racism is evil! We read right here that as Christ-followers, we must abandon every form of evil. Hypocrisy...well, I can not think of much more hypocritical than racism, considering that we believe that every person on Earth is created in the image of God. Peter takes us somewhere very important with these next few verses that I am going to end with.
“In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life— especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.” - 1 Peter 2:2-3 TPT
Ok, I have read this and thought about these verses many times, but something a little different came to my mind this morning. Why do nursing infants cry for milk? Yes, they are hungry; they need to eat. But, we also know that if a infant or any human for that matter goes too long without nutrition and food, they will die. A nursing infant, deep inside of them, understand milk is its lifeblood, it’s source of life. This is what we must understand, and is essential and why Peter make the connection here with his opening of “therefore.” Because we are Christ-followers, walking with him, destined for eternity with God, we must understand that our source of life here on Earth is God’s Word. We can not live without it!
Beyond it just being our lifeline and keeping us alive, we need to recognize that it does so much more than that. God’s Word isn’t just something that keeps us alive like a machine while we are on our death bed. God’s word will cause us to grow into maturity, thoroughly nourished, and healthy for this life. God’s Word will lift us off our death bed, and bring us to full life, healthy and thriving in this broken world.
Ok, one last part we have to see and process thoroughly. We read this, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. Take that in, and let it penetrate your mind and soul. Intensely crave. What do you intensely crave today? I think of ice cream, and I regularly crave a glorious bowl of ice cream. Coffee. I intensely crave a great cup of craft coffee. There are a few other things I can think about - and this is how we need to yearn for God’s word.
Lord, my bold and audacious prayer today is for every Christ-follower to abandon every form of evil, deceit, hypocrisy, feelings of jealousy and slander. This would be a great start to ending racism in America and across the globe. I also pray Lord that you draw all of us into your Word, and give us the intense craving that is described here. Lord, this, I know, is a huge part of the solution for ending racism in our country, uniting believers, and drawing us to the central message of Jesus and the Gospel. Amen.