“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” 1 Peter 2:2
Dieting. The word rarely elicits warm fuzzy thoughts. Instead, dieting conjures up those cold pricklies of deprivation, starvation, and suffering. That is probably one reason that many weight loss programs make statements such as, “It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle” or “Don’t call it a diet, call it a change of habits.” However, any way you look at it, it’s a diet. The word “diet” simply refers to the foods that an individual eats, and there are many kinds of diets. There is the vegetarian diet, the lactose-intolerant diet, the low-carbohydrate diet, etc. There’s even a spiritual diet! In fact, there are two kinds of spiritual diets.
The first spiritual diet consists of the “sincere milk of the Word.” When we first become Christians, we are like babies who must be fed mother’s milk. You wouldn’t feed steak and potatoes to a newborn child, nor would you bombard a newly saved person with the more complex doctrines of the Bible. Just as the baby could not digest the meatier foods, the new Christian would have a very difficult time understanding the deeper things of God.
However, as the baby grows, hardier foods are introduced into his or her diet, and the child thrives. Similarly, as Christians mature, they can delve more in the Scriptures and grow in their faith as the Holy Spirit works in their lives, illuminating them to the Word of God. This is the second type of spiritual diet – the “meat of the Word” (1 Corinthians 3:2). It is the diet that helps Christians grow stronger and more confident in their walk with the Lord. It is the diet that enables the followers of Christ to do great things for Him. It is the diet that satisfies souls and fills hearts with the joy of the Lord. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
Sometimes in physical diets, a person stops following the prescribed regimen, and their forward progress stops. Sometimes it even regresses. That can happen with one’s spiritual diet as well. If I don’t continue to feed myself from the Word of God, my spiritual growth will be stunted. Unlike cheating on a physical diet, if I deprive myself of the nourishment from the Scriptures, I will become spiritually emaciated. I have to keep a healthy intake of the Word of God to progress in my spiritual life, moving from the milk to the meat.
Another issue is cravings. When I’ve been on a particular diet for a while, I begin to crave the foods that have been omitted from my food plan. Sometimes the craving is so strong that I will search and search through cupboards, hoping to find any morsel that remotely resembles the food I want to eat. If I experience a physical craving, it is telling my body that it desires something from which it has been deprived. Spiritual cravings also indicate the need for spiritual nourishment! Our souls are desperate for the Word of God! “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
I long for the moments when I crave the Word of God and search through the Scriptures for those satisfying morsels. In those times when I cry out, “Fill my cup, Lord,” I know He will!
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.”
Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
(from “Fill My Cup, Lord” by Richard Blanchard)
“Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.” Proverbs 7:15
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Only a diet of God’s Word and His saving grace can satisfy the longing of a hungry soul!