Theme: As sent ones, disciples intentionally immerse themselves in a relationship with God and His Word…
…to feed their spirits.
Your Biblical Identity in Christ
1 Peter 2:1-12
Rid yourselves of all malice and 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… abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:1-3,11)
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
• In Christ, I am purified from sin. As I grow up in my salvation, I will abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against my soul.
Pondering Point
More than once the Bible exhorts us to have faith like a child. Here we are backing up even further with a call to – like babies – crave pure spiritual milk. We are later told in Hebrews 5-6 that we should move beyond spiritual milk to maturity.
Of course, we should never move back into the evil practices that Peter denounces above. All spirits will feed on something. We want to make sure that we feed our spirits with what God desires for us. Many of us have already had more than a taste of the Lord’s goodness. Let’s continue to feed on the Lord through His word and Spirit.
Prayer
Lord God, bless my spiritual taste buds with discernment for quality spiritual sustenance and with a will to stay away from unhealthy, empty spiritual calories. Teach me the value of abstaining from sinful desires and to instead nurture my soul in Christ and His Word; In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Proverb for the Week
Proverbs 15:14
The discerning heart seeks knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
Try to memorize this proverb. Yes, there will be a quiz later in this week!