Thirst for The Lord

1 Peter 2:2-3 (NLT)

2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

This milk of the word must be sincere, not adulterated by the mixtures of men, who often corrupt the word of God, 2 Co. 2:17. The manner in which they are to desire this sincere milk of the word is stated thus: As new-born babes. He puts them in mind of their regeneration. A new life requires suitable food. They, being newly born, must desire the milk of the word. Infants desire common milk, and their desires towards it are fervent and frequent, arising from an impatient sense of hunger, and accompanied with the best endeavours of which the infant is capable. Such must Christians' desires be for the word of God: and that for this end, that they may grow thereby, that we may improve in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.

As a child I loved the evenings that the kids in our family would sit by my father's chair while he read us stories aloud. One of our favorites was the poem "The Highwayman." The poem tells of an adventurer who robs the coaches of English aristocrats. The daring highwayman is in love with an innkeeper's daughter, and by night, when the coast is clear, he courts her. The authorities learn of the romance, and one twilight, before the highwayman arrives, British soldiers invade the inn. They tie the innkeeper's daughter at the window so the highwayman will see her and believe the way is safe. Then, lest she try to warn her love in any way, the soldiers gag the maid and tie a musket at her heart that will fire at the slightest movement. The highwayman comes riding.

Unaware of the muskets that wait to cut him down, the highwayman gallops ever closer to his destruction. He sees his love at the window. She hears his horse's hoofs on the lane. The soldiers cock their muskets. Nearer to the arms he loves, nearer to his destruction, the highwayman comes riding. Then, just as he is about to enter musket range, a premature shot rings out warning him to turn back. The highwayman reins and turns as the frustrated soldiers shoot a futile volley. All the muskets fire, but only one found its mark. The one true shot was from the musket that fired the warning—the musket aimed at the heart of the innkeeper's daughter. She warned at the expense of her life, and the warning was the expression of a great love.

The Cross stands both as God's ultimate warning of the consequences of sin, and as the greatest expression of his love for sinners. If God did not love, he would not so graciously warn. The Cross is the fatal cry of a Savior to those he loves to turn from what will do them great harm. [Bryan Chapell, from the sermon "The Judgment of Grace," PreachingToday.com]

Cry out for nourishment from God so that you may understand God’s full love. For Christ gave his life out of love that the arrows of death would miss us.  1 Corinthians 15:54-55 says, “54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”