Daily devotion – Milk or meat!
The winter weather has finally arrived — cool days, cold southerly winds, rain, and grey skies.
The perfect weather to get deeper into God’s Word and grow in our knowledge of Him. The extra blessing that comes with this is that the more we know God, the more we discover how great He is and how amazing His love is for us. People who are shallow in their daily reading and time spent in God’s Word sadly only ever touch the basics of the Creator of our universe and the amazing life He has planned for each of us.
It’s a bit like trying to build a house with a toy set of tools that Bob the Builder would use. They have the appearance of real tools, but they are useless when it comes to actually building anything substantial.
I know I sound like a broken record on how important reading God’s Word is to our Christian walk, but the Bible itself repeats the same message over and over because God knows how quickly we drift when we neglect His Word.
Jesus said:
Luk 4:4
“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
Notice Jesus did not say “some” of God’s Word, but “every” word of God. Just as our physical bodies become weak without food, our spiritual lives become weak when we neglect the Scriptures. A starving Christian will always struggle to stand firm in difficult times.
King David wrote:
Psa 119:11
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
To be able to hide God’s Word in your heart, you first must read it! The Word of God stored in our hearts becomes a defence against temptation, discouragement, fear, and compromise.
For direction in our everyday lives, the Bible points us the right way:
Psa 119:105
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
God’s Word does not always show us the entire journey ahead, but it gives us enough light for the next step. Many Christians want God to reveal the whole future while their Bible sits unopened on the shelf. Yet so often the guidance we are seeking is already found within its pages.
The more we read God’s Word, the greater our appetite for it grows, and the more able we become to digest the deeper things of God. The writer of Hebrews said to those who were still immature in their understanding:
Heb 5:12
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
Heb 5:13
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”
Sadly, many Christians remain spiritual infants for years because they only nibble at God’s Word once or twice a week. A Sunday sermon alone was never meant to sustain us for the entire week. Imagine trying to survive physically by eating only one meal every seven days! Yet many attempt to live spiritually that way.
The Apostle Paul told Timothy:
2Ti 2:15
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
God desires believers who know His Word, can stand upon His promises, and can recognise deception when it appears. We are living in days of great confusion, compromise, false teaching, and spiritual darkness. Never before has it been more important for Christians to know what the Bible actually says.
Our lack of Bible reading makes us an easy target for the Devil. When he attacks us, instead of saying, “It is written,” we end up losing the battle — even though Christ has already won the war.
When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, every response from our Lord began with the words, “It is written.” Jesus fought spiritual warfare with the Word of God, and we are called to do the same.
Have a Bible open each day when you eat your breakfast. Have another Bible in your car or in your bag for reading on the train, bus, or taxi. Have a Bible at your workplace ready for you to read at lunchtime. Read the Bible to your wife and to your children before they head off to school or go to sleep each night.
Turn off the television earlier. Put the phone down for a while. Spend less time scrolling endlessly through the opinions of man and more time filling your mind with the truth of God. One chapter read prayerfully is of greater eternal value than hours spent feeding the flesh with the things of this world.
It has been said of the Bible:
“This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book.”
As the colder weather keeps us indoors more often, perhaps this winter can become a season of spiritual growth and renewal. A season where we fall in love with God’s Word again. A season where prayer deepens, understanding grows, and our walk with Christ becomes stronger than ever before.
Are you still drinking milk?
Or are you now feasting on the meat of the Word?