Only God's Word Can Satisfy

1 Peter 2:1-3 (NKJV) - "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
 
The desire of an ever-growing Christian is like that of newborn babes. We should have a childlike, even infant-like, attitude. What is this desire? It begins with the mindset of a baby. Nothing would satisfy my newborns at home except for what they truly desired. This is what the writer wants us to have: a desire for the pure, unadulterated word of God. We should crave it. That's the one command out of these three verses.
 
However, there are five actions and attitudes that we should avoid in our lives as they can kill our appetite. You might have a healthy appetite, but something might happen that makes you lose it. Have you ever been there? When I was in middle school, I would bring my own food from home because I didn't care for the cafeteria lunches. My friends would constantly tell me to buy lunch from the cafeteria because it was inexpensive, but I just wasn’t convinced. However, one time, they were serving hot dogs, so I thought, "How can you mess up hot dogs?" I bought one, took a big bite, and then a plastic wrapper came off as I pulled away. It turned me off, and I brought my own food for the rest of the school year.
 
Certain things can make us lose our appetite, which will ultimately hinder our growth. In verse one, Peter says to “lay aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking.” These things can hinder our growth as Christians.
 

• Malice - the intent to harm or punish others
• Deceit - manipulating others
• Hypocrisy - lack of authenticity
• Envy - discontent when others have what we want
• Evil speaking - slander and harmful criticism

 
James 1:21 says, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” Once again, negative traits that Christians should lay aside, and then return to the Word of God. As those negative traits are avoided, the appetite for God’s Word will return.
 
The Greek word for “desire” in 1 Peter 2:2 means to "long for it, yearn for it." Have an insatiable desire for the Word of God, not for popular philosophy or popular psychology, but for the simple Word of God. He continues that this desire is not simply to consume, but “that you may grow thereby.” It's not enough to just desire the word of God; we must also aim to grow by it. The aim is not just to fill our heads, but to grow as Christians.
 
After James 1:21 says to receive God’s Word, it says in verse 22 to be “doers of the Word and not hearers only.” The aim of that appetite is to grow.
 
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” Notice, the aim is that the man or woman of God is complete, or mature, and equipped for every good work. The aim is to do something with that nourishment.
 
In fact, our appetite for God’s Word will increase as we are living it out. It becomes more than merely another Bible study, whose focus is more information. It is for transformation.
 
There was an army officer in the 1950’s who was trying to train his soldiers in artillery. While they were in the classroom, most of the students were dozing and glossy-eyed. They were trying to stay awake in class, and the officer and teachers just didn't know how to help this. They were trying to teach them about their weapons, and yet they continued to lose focus. Five to seven years later, the same instructors noticed that a new group of students held onto every word that the teachers were giving. The officer said the difference was that our country were right in the middle of preparing for the Vietnam War, and everyone knew they had to know all about these weapons and artillery. They had to know the details because of the approaching war.
 
Once we, as God's people, recognize the spiritual war that's out there and how crucial it is to put God's Word inside our hearts, that's when our appetite will be what it needs to be. We will have the mindset of a baby who says nothing but that bottle will satisfy. Nothing else but God’s Word will satisfy.
 
In What Every Christian Ought to Know, Adrian Rogers recounted this story:
 
While on an airplane, I was browsing the magazine selection looking for a newspaper. I met a man there who asked what kind of newspaper I was looking for. I responded frankly that I was looking for a conservative newspaper.
 
He looked me up and down and said, “I’m looking for a liberal newspaper.” He was wearing a dark pin-striped suit, and I asked him what he did. He responded that he was a lawyer and in return asked me what I did. I told him I was a Baptist preacher.
 
He was interested in what I read, and I told him that I read books, journals, and newspapers, but that I primarily read the Bible.
 
“You don’t read any wider than that?” he asked.
 
“No, not really.”
 
“Do you speak to people?”
 
“All the time.”
 
He said, “Well then, how do you know what people’s needs and what their problems are if you don’t read any more widely than that?”
 
I said to this lawyer, “Man has only three problems: sin, sorrow, and death.”
 
He said, “No, there are more problems than that.”
 
I said, “All right, think about it and tell me a fourth problem.”
 
He thought for a while, and then he said, “Man has only three problems.”
 
Every other problem in the world is indeed just a subset of sin, sorrow, death, and the Bible is the only book on earth that has the   answer to all three conditions. For this reason it is important that you understand and have a rock-ribbed assurance that the Bible is the Word of God. It is not the Book of the Month; it is the Book of the Ages.[1]
 
Only the Bible can be as fresh as today's news, but eternal. The same Bible that has been read for thousands of years is just as applicable today as then. The Bible is not just a good book. The Bible is not just a challenging book. This is the Word of God. So you can build your life on the Word of God just the same way that a baby who is being breastfed just needs the nourishment of his mother. That milk has everything necessary for that baby to grow. In the same way, all you need as a child of God to grow is not today's philosophy, not tomorrow's cultural events, but rather just the simple, pure, undiluted Word of God applied to your life. The aim is not merely to know it or memorize it, but to live it out as a child of God.
 
God's Word is sufficient for all matters of faith and practice. We don't need to look beyond it for spiritual guidance or nourishment. Just as a balanced diet provides all the nutrients our bodies need, the Bible provides all the spiritual food we need for growth and maturity in Christ.
 
“Father, as a babe in Christ, I thirst for Your Word. I pray that nothing else satisfies like Your Word. Oh God, when the myriad of voices clammer for my attention, I pray I come back to the Bible. Thank You for Your Word. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
 


[1] Adrian Rogers and Steve Rogers, What Every Christian Ought to Know (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2012), 6–7.