DAILY DEVOTIONAL – April 17, 2020

“A Glass A Day.“

Prayer:  Almighty God, You are the source of all life and the Creator of all things.  You have shown us Your eternal power and have given eternal life freely through the death and resurrection of Your Son Jesus.  Lord, in Your mercy, help us to hunger for nothing and no one else but You.  Amen.

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-2

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—  if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Devotional – “A Glass a Day”

When my son Jesse was born, within 20 minutes of being out of the womb, and as he was laying on the receiving table just having had his umbilical cord cut, he started opening his mouth really wide while making grunting noises and making restless movements with his arms and legs.  I got nervous thinking that he may be having some breathing problems.  The nurse was there, and when she saw it my nerves were put at ease when I heard her say, “Wow.  Is he really mouthing?!”  “What do you mean mouthing?” I asked.  The nurse chuckled a little bit and said, “I am surprised it’s happening so soon, but he’s hungry!  He wants to eat and is searching for momma!”

Much to the surprise of the nurses and doctors, Jesse latched on to momma and ate for an hour straight 20 minutes after being born.  He took a 20 minute breather, and then fed for another 40 minutes!

Of course, as I was watching all of this I couldn’t help but think of Peter’s words in our Scripture passage for today, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

It should be the desire of all Christians, all who have tasted the sweetness of the grace and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ, to grow up fully and mature in their faith.  What is that pure spiritual milk?  It is nothing else but the Word of God.  In his commentary on this passage, Martin Luther says, “The milk is nothing but the Gospel, which is also the very seed by which we were conceived and born.  This is also the food that nourishes us when we grow up; it is the armor which we put on and with which we equip ourselves.  Yes, it is everything put together.”  As Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 in response to the devil’s tempting Him to satisfy His hunger by turning stones into bread, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Friends, you and I should begin each day and spend each day and end each day craving and living in the Word of God.  Reading the Bible is not a religious responsibility, a noble task or a book we turn to for answers when all else fails.  We are all guilty of turning to many other things in our search for sustenance and satisfaction in life.  Anything we consume in this sinful and broken world, whether that be food, possessions or knowledge, only helps keep us alive.  If we want to truly live, we do so only when our deepest hunger is for the Word of God and the relationship with our risen Lord and Savior Jesus who comes to us in His Word.

I recently read an article about a team of American and Swedish researchers who back in 2016 had shown that they had found a substance that could possibly provide both a non-toxic treatment for cancer and potentially prove effective against bacterial strains that prove resistant to conventional antibiotic medication.  The super molecule they found to have such promise is a protein-lipid complex found in human breast milk called HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells).

In human infants, HAMLET is formed when the milk reaches the stomach; [and] unfolds when it comes in contact with digestive acids and then combines with milk oleic acid.

HAMLET has shown promise in treating multiple types of human cancers without causing any negative side effects.

If that is the power of the physical milk that God has created to sustain us in this temporary life, how much more miraculous and powerful is the true spiritual milk He has provided in His Word?  So drink up my friends!

Thanks for joining me today for time in God’s Word, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow.  Amen.