Are You Thirsty?

(This week’s devotion is by our Diaconate Chaplain, Deacon Mary Tyson, Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site)—Fredericksburg, VA)

It all started during Bible study. I was minding my own business and wanted to prepare myself for the upcoming chapter. So, I read 1 Peter 2 and focused in on verses 1-3, “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.” When I dug a little deeper, there it was in verse 2, “… as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…”

The word desire leapt from the page at me!  Upon further investigation I learned that this desire was as a strong yearning, a craving, an obsession. Not like the obsessions we have for worldly things. We obsess over things to fill our need for love, popularity, comfort, home, cars, food, objects and ideas that are fleeting and not eternally satisfying. There is something that burns deep within our inner most being, stirring up this feeling. Welling up inside of us a curiosity to quench our thirst. We become so obsessed with these worldly things that we often lose sight of what should be our heart’s obsession: Jesus. He is the sole entity we have permission to be obsessed with – to have more than a healthy obsession for.

Also, I found that this desire is used for man’s deepest longing for God: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.” It speaks of the desire each believer should have for the Word of God.

A healthy new baby has an instinctive yearning for its mother’s milk. You don’t have to tell the baby to want the milk. The mother’s milk is life to the healthy baby. The same should be true for healthy Christians, we need to desire, crave, and thirst for the pure milk of God’s word. “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1)

The Word of God is necessary for us to grow as Christians. It is life to us! God’s Word tells us all that we need to know for our journey on this Earth. God alone is our strength, our shield; to Him alone may our spirits yield. God alone should be our hearts’ desire, and we should long to worship Him!