A Spiritual Nutritional Plan

1 Peter 2:2

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…

A few years ago our nation experienced a critical shortage of baby formula and mothers who relied on this supplement to feed their infants were very worried. Sure we had shortages of many items on the grocery store shelves, but why was this a crisis? Doctors advise that a baby under 6 months of age should only be fed breastmilk or formula. Even cow's milk is not considered usable because it has too many proteins and minerals for the baby to handle. Pediatricians also recommend that a baby be fed on a schedule especially when they are being treated in an intensive care unit after birth.

All these measures are for one sincere purpose, to keep the baby growing. God's Spirit caused the Apostle Peter to reflect on this vital necessity as he was writing to Christians who were young in their faith. The pure spiritual milk he was urging is the simple truth from God's Word and Peter was convinced you and I need to regularly feed on it so that we will grow up in our faith. Is the Bible a source of regular food for you or do you only pick it up every once in a while? Do you only get fed spiritually on Sunday and go without input the rest of the week? Many who teach and coach about how to be successful will challenge students to examine the way they spend their time as a first step toward improving their abilities. They actually start by tracking what they do each hour of their day. Then they work on building effective habits to keep them on track with the way they want to improve. You need to view your life in Christ this way. Spiritual habits are just as important as nutritional and fitness habits.

If you don't have good habits now, build them one day at at time. You may be participating in regular worship, where you will hear good teaching but are you in a good Bible study where the truths of the scriptures are broken down for you to digest? Even more important, have you developed a daily habit of reading your Bible in a Quiet Time to feed your mind with God's thoughts? You wouldn't skip lunch and dinner very often, or your stomach would notice. In the same way you need to build your spiritual life on a consistent diet of truth from the Lord.

And don't just read this devotional and think that you have had a good meal. Sit down with the Bible and study it so that you can learn to apply it in your daily life. The first Psalm tells us that a man who wants to be successful will meditate on God's Word day and night.