“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” 1 Peter 2:2
Since becoming a father last year, I have obtained a completely new and fresh perspective on many formerly ‘prosaic’ passages in the Bible. Suddenly verses like this one pop out with entirely new meaning. When my little son desires milk, I would classify the intensity of his longing as strongly infringing upon lustful desire. The entirety of his heart, mind, and all of his strength is spent on letting the entire world know that he is hungry. He thinks of nothing else, craves nothing else, seeks nothing else.
And thus would our heavenly Father have us to be. He desires that we should long for him with passion. That we would see the glittering things of this earth as trash in comparison to His words, His company, His revelation.
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” Philippians 3:8
Paul understood this. He had been stripped of all that was dear to him on this earth, and he had nothing more on this earth to lay claim to his affections. His life echoed that of the psalmist:
“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Psalms 73:25
May we also grow to realize the intense beauty of spending and being spent for the one who gave His all to redeem us from the curse of sin.