Feeding On-Demand

"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

1 Peter 2:1-3

God designed the milk of a mother to supply all the nutritional needs of a newborn baby for health and growth.  Peter urged believers of all ages and levels of spiritual maturity to lay aside sin and to feed on God's word as a newborn baby drinks milk.

While there are obviously more than two camps when it comes to feeding babies, the most common and large groups seems to be scheduled or "on-demand" feeding.  Some adhere to a more strict schedule concerning feeding, while other mothers feed their baby whenever he or she seems hungry.  From what I was told, with me my mother adopted the "on-demand" feeding style and resulted in me growing very fat and happy.  The story goes my mum was rebuked by a pediatrician for "ruining my life" by allowing me to drink milk whenever and as much as I wanted.  It was a painful experience for someone who carried, nurtured and loved me from birth.

A baby without an appetite is a concern, as babies need to eat properly to develop and grow.  Spiritually speaking Peter told believers we ought never wean ourselves from the word of God but to desire it, to treasure the flavour of grace in the Bible.  Like a baby grows out of tiny clothes, we are to put aside sinful thoughts and behaviours that are unfitting for a child of God.  A baby finds comfort in using a dummy to satisfy the natural sucking reflex God created babies to have, yet there is no substitute for the pure word of God.  The scripture is never something we ought be weaned from because God has provided it for our growth.  We do not grow out of needing to ingest, contemplate and put into practice God's word.

Many believers adopt a scheduled spiritual feeding routine, limiting themselves to feeding during a Sunday sermon or a weekly study.  For these it should be no wonder if there is little spiritual growth:  imagine if a baby ate only once or twice a week!  God does not dole out wisdom on a weekly basis but feeds His children on-demand, giving us His word and the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.  Peter's exhortation implies believers have the choice to lay aside sin and to desire the pure milk of the word.  Physical growth for babies occur when they drink milk, and spiritual growth occurs when we receive and obey God's word.  A baby might spit up a lot of what they drink, and just reading the Bible more is not the cure for our spiritual ills.  But the growth of believers is directly tied to feeding on God's word, developing a taste and hunger for it, and obeying it.

Jesus fed all 5,000 men and their families with five loaves and two fish that sat down on the grass in groups as directed, and God will never turn away the spiritually famished because it is not Sunday.  If you are hungry, come to Him and feed on His word.  We ought not condition ourselves to be scheduled feeders when He feeds us on-demand.  We cannot eat too much of God's word; we cannot heed it too well.  Our error is to neglect God's word and seek answers, comfort or guidance from anyone or anything rather than God.  We are called to put away all sin that stunts our spiritual growth and desire the pure milk of God's word.  Demand cannot outstrip God's abundant supply, for we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.