I Peter 2:1-3
(excerpt from Morning Meditations by Martin Wiles)
I Peter 2:2 You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. (NLT)
Mikey was a runt, and I wasn’t sure he was going to make it. I’ve always had a fascination with hogs, but Mikey was special. His mom had lost most of her milk prior to birthing her litter. Since Mikey was the smallest, he was rooted out. Unless I intervened, he would die. So I did.
I went to the store, purchased a baby bottle and filled it with milk. Twice a day I drove to the farm and fed Mikey. When he saw me coming, he would scoot through the hog wire, run up to me and hop into my lap. He had a difficult time with the bottle at first, but once he got the hang of it he would consume it in short order. I finally weaned him but his growth rate was extremely slow. It took confining Mikey in a small area where all he could do was eat and sleep to reap the intended results. Eventually, he matured into a beautiful Hampshire boar hog.
According to Peter, Mikeys make wonderful believers. They crave the milk of God’s Word. They just can’t get enough. They drink and drink and want more. Mikeys have bottomless pits for stomachs, but they grow into the fullness of their salvation.
While salvation happens at a specific point in time, realizing the fullness (no pun intended) of it takes a lifetime. We get and God gives more. We empty the bottle and he refills it. Sometimes he even puts us in confining and unpleasant places so we can realize significant growth spurts that wouldn’t occur in any other way.
Mikey eventually met the fate of all hogs. But as he was consumed, he helped someone else grow. Even in Christianity, there is a circle of life. God invests himself in us. We invest ourselves in others, and they repeat the process. I wonder who’s the Mikey you’ve fed recently?
Prayer: Lord, even as I crave Your Word so I might grow, enable me to help others grow as well.
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