2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (1 Peter 2:2 NIV)*
2You 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,
(1 Peter 2:2 NLT)*
2Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation,
(1 Peter 2:2 Amplified)*
2Like newborn infants you are, you must crave for pure milk (spiritual milk, I mean), so that you may thrive upon it to your souls’ health. (1 Peter 2:2 TNEB)*
2 And be like new born babies, thirsty for the pure milk of the word so that by it, you may grow up into deliverance. (1 Peter 2:2 CJB)*
What do you think is the most valuable item in the world? Is it the Hope Diamond? The Mona Lisa? How about King Tut’s Tomb? How about the new Freedom Towers in Manhattan? Offer these options to someone at death’s door and you immediately discover they have a plummeting value. To that person, the world’s treasures have no value.
I suggest the most valuable item on the planet costs less than $100. Hundreds of them sit on thrift store shelves and sell for pennies of their value. They are given as gifts, yet never opened. At key crossroads of a person’s life they are introduced as aid, help, and even salvation, but for many they offer little course correction. Americans treat them casually, but those in places like China risk their very lives to get their hands on one. The Gideons give them away. The Inaugural address offers it as a basis for upholding the Constitution. The children’s version includes pictures. Bible school students often buy one that includes extensive study notes. They are often read at funerals then placed in the casket or passed on to loved ones.
Written in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, it is our foundation for faith and absolute authority. It is historically reliable. Over 40 authors on three continents wrote it over a period of 1600 years. They came from different cultures and different walks of life.
The answer? The most valuable item in the world is – the Bible.
Bill Gates’ billions can’t touch it, Hitler couldn’t destroy it, Nero couldn’t burn it, and the Khmer Rouge couldn’t change it. It is inerrant and infallible in its original writings. Nothing will change you more over the next five years than the trials you go through and the scriptures you read, meditate on, and memorize.
God’s word is spiritual food that you must take in daily to enjoy God’s plan and purpose for your life. The Bible is called milk, bread, solid food and sweet dessert. This is your daily four-course meal to help you grow and have spiritual strength to defeat the devil and resist temptation.
The Bible is more than a book of information and interpretation, it is a book that…
…generates life, creates faith, produces change, frightens the devil, causes miracles, heals hurts, builds character, transforms circumstances, imparts joy, overcomes adversity, defeats temptation, infuses hope ,releases power, cleanses our mind, brings things into being, guarantees our future forever2
We cannot live without it. Never take it for granted. Get more of it into you, by any means.
The Bible has two primary themes: The Way to God and the Walk with God. Both rely heavily upon experiential learning. A quick glance at scripture reminds of these points:
Esau was a hunter (God’s blessing)
Joseph was a manager (God’s blessing)
Nehemiah was a builder (God’s call)
Moses was an employee (tended father-in-law’s sheep)
Our text today introduces three insights about the value of God’s word. First, God’s word must be taken into our lives daily. Newborn babies come out of the womb crying. One thing will stop a newborn from crying – milk, they’re hungry all the time. Like that newborn crying for milk, we need spiritual nourishment and should crave, desire, and thirst for the food found only in God’s word.
Second, we should crave the meat of God’s word that comes only through study. God created us with an appetite for His word. When we feast on it daily, His Spirit creates a desire deep with in us for a greater understanding. Then He faithfully opens our eyes and hearts and teaches us.
Finally, the daily study of God’s word leads to spiritual maturity. How many Christians become arrested spiritually? Their failure to introduce the word of God into their spirits daily and allow the Spirit to teach them as they study causes them to experience protracted infancy. The text reminds us of the relationship of the daily study of God’s word and spiritual maturity.
Getting The Most From God’s Word
1. Change translations from time to time
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. (Psalm 119:97)
In today’s message I provided you with a variety of translations. I have, by design, varied the translations for a couple of significant reasons. One, regardless which translation you choose, it comes with limitations. The Bible in its original manuscript was written using 11,280 Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words. Now, observe the difference in the average English translation that uses about 6000 words.3 The result is that you can miss important meanings and nuances unless you compare translations.
One of the best examples is found in the NIV. Get a New International Version of the Bible. Go to the account of the crucifixion found in Luke 23:34 and read the first of Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross:
34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Now, look up the same passage in the New American Standard Bible. You will notice a slight difference with the verb “said.”
34But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing " And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves
A cursory reading of the text will often overlook the tense of the word, “Jesus was saying.” It is written in the most common Greek tense, “Present Tense Continuous Action.” It simply conveys the idea that, “Jesus kept on saying, ‘Father, forgive them.’” Not one time, but many. “Father, forgive them,” as they cursed him. “Father, forgive them,” as they gambled for his garments. “Father, forgive them,” as they fled, hid, and abandoned their Savior. Father, forgive them - and me. The NIV misses the most important part of the grammar.
Use a variety of translations and your understanding and enjoyment of God’s word will increase significantly. The more you understand, the more you can become like Jesus. The more you know about scripture, the more you can surrender to the Savior.
Just as important is the awareness that, as the old saying goes, “familiarity breads contempt.” The more familiar we become with the text the easier it is to miss the impact. As we read a familiar text we get lazy and begin to skim over it, assuming we already know what it means. Bad idea. With a variety of translations you are forced to slow down and study the meaning of each verse. Praise God that we have so many translations to use as we study God’s word. Now friend, don’t develop translation phobia. Each year as I start my Bible study in January I put away last year’s translation and start with a new one. I have been doing for about three years. It’s amazing; life changing. I’ll never go back! Thank you to the many authors who have labored to offer us a fresh look at God’s word. May your tribe increase.
Jesus proclaimed, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ (Matthew 4:4) Study God’s word daily! Apply it to your life.
2. Plant a vineyard and get a fishing license.
I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit. (Isaiah. 5:1-2)
The Bible was written in an agrarian society. It is helpful to know a little about farming, fishing, and grape growing to really understand God’s word. These are the primary vocations and cash crops of Israel. In Israel they often say there are five gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Land. An understanding of Palestine vocations will expand your understanding of God’s word.
In the Pacific Northwest we are fortunate to have several vocations that make it easier to understand God’s word. Orchard work and fishing both provide the participant with many parallels and insights, making God’s word come alive as you read it. Isaiah uses the illustration of planting a vineyard in his parable:
“fertile hillside” (vs. 1). Terracing was the method used to grow grapes in the region of Judah and Benjamin.
“he dug it up and cleared it of stones” (vs. 2). The hills are limestone and terracing involves removing rock.
“he used the choicest of vines” (vs. 2). The choicest vine is the Sorek, named after the Sorek valley, the home of Samson. The grapes were used for fine red wine.
“He built a watch tower and cut out a winepress” (vs. 2). To protect the crop from thieves, a watchtower was built and workers slept there around the clock during harvest.
“He looked for a good crop, but found only bad fruit” (vs. 2). The word for bad is really immature fruit, or fruit stuck in the middle of maturing.
Let me show you how knowing a little about horticulture can cause the word of God to come alive. Open your Bible to Genesis 21 and read verses 33-34:
33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. 34And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
What in the world is a tamarisk tree? Is it significant to the meaning of the text? Beersheba is the southern region of Israel with arid, desert-like conditions all year. It is similar to places like Arizona and west Texas. Here we see Abraham building an altar to the Lord.
What is an altar? A place where you “arrange hard things before the Lord.” Build one today. Turn over those hard things to God. As you do, you’ll realize that God is interested in your personal comfort as you surrender to him. How do you know that? What from the text gives that kind of impression? It is found in the kind of tree that verse 33 identifies. A tamarisk tree provides a canopy of cool shade and refreshing moisture for the desert dweller. As you sit under the tree and are sheltered from the 100° degree sun, the tamarisk tree emits cool drops of moisture that makes the temperature under the tree 80°. The Eternal God cares about your comfort.
Jeremiah 15:16a (NKJV) describes God’s word as food: “Your words were found, and I ate them And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” Study God’s word daily! Apply it to your life.
3. Learn the customs of the Middle East
19After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” 20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. (Genesis 24:19-20, 23)
Our text introduces us to Rebekah and her servant’s heart. Camels drink hundreds of gallons of water after a long journey. It takes a lot of time and effort to provide the water for these Middle Eastern beasts. When you learn a little about these animals you don’t have to study hard to realize that Rebekah was a hard worker and she loved to show kindness to others. Notice, the passage says, “I’ll draw water for you and your camels, until they have finished drinking.” That said a lot in her culture.
Why don’t you become a student of another culture? You have the Western thing down. Becoming a student of the Middle East will pay huge dividends when it comes to fresh meaning from God’s word. Every culture has unique customs and traditions. Go to the Bible bookstore and get a resource today. If you can’t find one, let me offer a suggestion of one of my favorites:
Fred H. Wright. Manners and Customs of Bible Lands. Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1980(28th printing)
If you want to truly understand how significant customs are, do a quick Bible study on trades and professions in the Bible. Find a person who is skilled in that profession and have them give you some insights. Let me suggest these professions from scripture:
Carpenter,
Fisherman,
Hunter,
Mason and metalworker,
Merchants,
Moneychanger & banker,
Physicians,
Potter,
Tanner and dyer,
Tax collector,
Tentmaker.
Perhaps you are not aware, but God has placed the Arab people as custodians of the Land of Promise. In the 7th century an army of Arabs broke away from Arabia and invaded the Near East. They brought with them the habits of life inherited from generations before them. Since they have lived in these lands, they have become the stewards of the manners and customs of the bible.4 Go and make friends with an Arab family. Become a part of their culture and traditions. Your personal Bible study will benefit from such a move. And your love for God will grow.
The Bible is unlike any other book. It can convert the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, and enlighten the eyes (Psalm 19:7-9). Study God’s word daily. Apply it to your life.
4. Enroll in a Bible study group
11The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. (Ecclesiastes 12:11)
The purpose of Bible study is to spur you on to action. It is intended to motivate you to be like Jesus. To love like Jesus. To live like Jesus. To learn like Jesus.
A goad is an object that “spurs you to action.” It motivates you to do something. In the rice fields of the Orient one can see farmers taking long stakes with a point and jabbing them in the hindquarters of the tough-skinned beasts. This is immediately followed by some type of instruction in language understood only by the natives. The farmer moves this great behemoth with a small goad.
Like a well-driven nail come the insightful teachings of God’s shepherds. Well-driven conveys the idea of something driven deep. They are deeply imbedded. These well-driven nails of biblical truth stay with us. They will be remembered. They are deeply embedded in our soul, not to be forgotten but to resurface as needed. They are truths to be delivered in an appropriate season or moment to provide liberation or declaration to a people who need a new word for an ever-changing world. Goads. Nails.
Solomon reminds us that when a Bible study leader crafts his words just right they lodge deep in the person’s spirit and then explode with comfort or conviction. These words have the ability to seize the attention and heart of the drifter, the rebel, the intellectual, the hard-hearted, the lonely, and the passionate for God.
We grow best when we do it with others. We always learn truths from others that we would never discover on our own. Get involved in a Bible study group today. It will push you to action and provide deep truths to draw upon in times of need.
5. Read God’s word daily and apply it to your life
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach (Matthew 23:1-3)
Someone has said, “The habits you acquire in the first half of your life will determine the success of the second half of your life.” What is the difference between a successful person and a mediocre person? A mediocre person does sporadically what a successful person does daily. Read God’s word daily and learn to apply it to your life. Jesus expected people to do something with his preaching. The end result of the study of God’s word should always produce “life change.”
Martin Luther put it plainly when he said, “If you preach the gospel in all aspects with the exception of the issues which deal specifically with your times - you are not preaching the gospel.” It is not how many times you go through the Bible it is how times the Bible goes through you.
The parable of the sower illustrates how our receptiveness determines whether or not God’s word takes root in our lives and bears fruit. Jesus identifies three unreceptive attitudes:
Closed mind (hard soil)
Superficial mind (shallow soil)
Distracted mind (soil with weeds)
Then he said, “Consider carefully how you listen.”
Let me conclude with three words of advice for those who want a revival of desire to allow God’s word to govern every part of your life:
First, if you are a person who believes God’s word from cover to cover, then become a person who reads God’s word from cover to cover.
Second, when you feel like you are not learning anything from a sermon or Bible teacher, immediately check your attitude for pride. God can and does speak through even the most boring teacher when you are humble and receptive.
Finally, you can’t watch television for three hours and read God’s word for three minutes and expect to grow.
Many of the troubles we face are because we base our choices on unreliable authorities:
Culture (everyone is doing it)
Tradition (we’ve always done it that way)
Reason (it seems logical)
Emotion (it sure feel right)
All of these belief systems are flawed because of the fall of man. You need the perfect standard that will never lead you in the wrong direction. What is the most valuable thing in the world? The Bible!
End Notes
1. What Bible translations are used for 1 Peter 2:2?
New International Version (NIV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
The Amplified Bible (Amplified)
The New English Bible (TNEB)
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
2. Rick Warren. Purpose Driven Life. Zondevan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002, pg. 325.
3. Ibid, pg. 325
4. Fred H. Wright. Manners and Customs of Bible Lands. Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1980(28th printing), pg. 7
Key Points
I suggest the most valuable item on the planet costs less than $100. Hundreds of them sit on thrift store shelves and sell for pennies of their value. They are given as gifts, yet never opened..
God’s word is spiritual food that you must take in daily to enjoy God’s plan and purpose for your life. The Bible is called milk, bread, solid food and sweet dessert. This is your daily four-course meal to help you grow and have spiritual strength to defeat the devil and resist temptation.
In today’s message I provided you with a variety of translations. I have, by design, varied the translations for a couple of significant reasons. One – regardless which translation you choose, it comes with limitations. The Bible in its original manuscript was written using 11,280 Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words. Now, observe the difference in the average English translation that uses about 6000 words.3 The result is that you can miss important meanings and nuances unless you compare translations.
Perhaps you are not aware, but God has placed the Arab people as custodians of the Land of Promise. In the 7th century an army of Arabs broke away from Arabia and invaded the Near East. They brought with them the habits of life inherited from generations before them. Since they have lived in these lands, they have become the stewards of the manners and customs of the bible.4 Go and make friends with an Arab family. Become a part of their culture and traditions. Your personal Bible study will benefit from such a move. And your love for God will grow.
Unexpected Findings
Solomon reminds us that when a Bible study leader crafts his words just right they lodge deep in the person’s spirit and then explode with comfort or conviction.
Bill Gates’ billions can’t touch it, Hitler couldn’t destroy it, Nero couldn’t burn it, and the Khmer Rouge couldn’t change it. It is inerrant and infallible in its original writings. Nothing will change you more over the next five years than the trials you go through and the scriptures that you read, meditate on, and memorize.
Someone has said, “The habits you acquire in the first half of your life will determine the success of the second half of your life.”
You can’t watch television for three hours and read God’s word for three minutes and expect to grow.
