“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3
Going in, I find myself assuming Peter must have been talking to a brand new church and brand new Christians, since Paul slammed a church for still crawling around in diapers, drinking milk, and not able to digest the meat and potatoes he felt they ought to have been ready for.
Perhaps this is meant rather as a reminder to take stock from time to time of the spiritual essentials we think we already know, to remember the truths essential to our spiritual growth, the grace that saves us. The human heart is wicked and deceptive and can harbor fears and doubts, or even bitterness and anger, that we thought we dismissed and/or expelled, because we intellectually know better.
Meat and potatoes are good (spiritually speaking), but let’s be sure we serving them (or being served them) with a good old fashioned glass of milk, too.
Lord, we thank you for your word, we thank you for grace and forgiveness. We thank you that we don’t have to earn your love by jumping through hoops, bringing home a report card full of As, or a trophy room full of medals, or any other human measure of achievement. We thank you for your ministry of reconciliation that is changing us back into your image, and the rebirth you are still working in us. In your eyes, we don’t need to prove our worth with a great platform or the perfect resume, nor do we have to justify to you any of the resources you provide us to sustain us, either spiritually or physically. We open our hearts to receive a deeper understanding of the fundamentals we already have down pat intellectually. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.