Like a Newborn Baby...

While listening to 1 Timothy this morning, a phrase I've heard dozens of times stuck out to me:

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.

When I think back to those early days with a new baby, there is an amazing amount of sweetness, combined with a complete, dependent neediness on the part of the baby. Some of you may remember that I blogged about my nursing experiences with Moses, our most recent son. The first post, describing the first week of nearly non-stop eating, seemed to strike a chord with a lot of people. It is so easy to forget that early neediness, where at times the only thing that satisfies that sweet little person is drinking more milk.

LIKE NEWBORN BABIES

But this morning, it made me think, have I ever been that dependent on the Word of God? And even if there was such a time, am I still growing in my maturity of intake? Because sometimes I stagnate.

If, in real life, I went without food as often as I sometimes go without God's Word, I would not be healthy.

That's a frightening reality. I don't love God's Word enough; I am not dependent enough upon it. Though at times I have spent time and energy eagerly feeding myself on God's Word, at other times, I treat it as dessert, or as a delicacy. In other words, as if it's optional.

One commentary notes:

Reading, studying and assimilating the Word of God is the most essential part of our spiritual life. There will be no sign of spiritual growth unless our spirit is stimulated, formed and built up by this Word.

Do I treat Scripture as essential? There have been many times in my life when I have, but I have to confess that in recent months, I have not treated God's Word as essential. At times, it's been something I've reached for in desperation, but if I am honestly assessing my intake over the past few months, I am spiritually malnourished.

Even if there have been times when I wanted to read 8-12 times a day, those times won't carry me along NOW. I still need to be regularly intaking God's Word. Not just the "milk" meant for spiritual newborns, but chewing through the meat that's available in His Word as well. Just like the classic "busy mom" who has to make sure she's eating healthy and taking care of herself, so that she can more capably love and care for the people in her home, perhaps now more than ever, I need to be feeding myself a healthy "diet" of Scripture.

This is just an open confession, I suppose. It could serve as well as a word of encouragement for any other moms out there who have been doing what I've been doing-- shuffling along through spiritual life without that regular, dependent, eager intake of God's Word. Let's get back to it. Let's keep on diving deeper into Scripture. Let's chew on the difficult parts and delight in the sweet portions.

Anything you'd like to share or add?