When my appetite is dull . . .

Milk is not one of my favorite beverages, probably because it makes my teeth and the inside of my mouth feel coated. I drink it for the calcium but would rather drink water. I’m sure I’ve not always felt this way. As a baby, I must have been like all babies and craved milk. For a time, it would have been my only sustenance.

For this reason, milk makes a good illustration for how a Christian should feel about reading the Bible. Peter wrote about the power of God’s Word and how it endures. Then he said,

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. (1 Peter 2:1-2)

He makes an arresting connection. While a newborn is not going to stop craving milk for any reason, growing Christians can stop craving the Bible if we are acting in sinful ways. Knowing the appeal of sin makes the reason obvious; if I am doing the wrong thing it is because I want to, and therefore I will not read the book that is going to condemn those things that I want to do.

Sin is insidious. It keeps trying to rule my life and my appetites. Note that this list is not for those who don’t know Christ; it is directed to God’s people, me included, and includes some really rotten behavior.

With a peek into a Greek dictionary, I found that malice is a general term. It is about being wicked or evil and not even ashamed of breaking God’s laws. It covers both evil thoughts and actions. That is, malice does harm but also is the idea of wanting to do harm to someone else even if I don’t do it. Every time the notion of getting even with someone who has hurt me, or even thinking nasty thoughts toward someone who thwarts my plans can be called malice. Malice destroys my appetite for God’s Word.

Deceit is another general term for sin. The root is to “decoy” and this suggests a deliberate use of guile, treachery, or some sort of falseness in order to mislead another person. Thankfully, I’m not into games like that, but have been tempted. People may not like my straightforward style, and to be more popular I’ve wondered about being subtle or sly when trying to say what I want to say. All my Greek dictionaries use subtlety in their definitions of this word deceit. Going along with this sort of nonsense kills my desire to read the Bible.

Hypocrisy is a common criticism of Christians. I don’t want to be labeled with this either. The word that Peter uses is a plural noun that indicates how any act of hiding evil intentions toward another behind a mask of piety is wrong. The word comes from the practice of actors holding a mask over their face to indicate the role they were playing. Because of this, I see hypocrisy from two angles. I’m not to be evil and pretend to be good, but I’m also not to be God’s child and pretend I am just like those who are not. Faking who I am will dull my appetite for God too. He wants the opposite — integrity, being the same on the inside and the outside.

Envy is a plural noun that represents feelings of ill will or jealousy against someone else because of a real or perceived advantage that they have. Some will say envy is worse than jealousy because it is not only wants what others have, it also doesn’t want the other person to have it. Either one says I am not content with His provision, and takes my eyes (and hunger) off God and on something else.

The last one says evil speaking. The actual word is more like defamation or slander, saying words that are designed to ruin another person’s reputation or position. It is one thing to alert someone about their sinful behavior and want it fixed, and quite another to talk about that sin behind the person’s back to make myself look better and that person look worse. This is so shameful, and it also ruins my appetite for the Bible.

Instead I’m supposed to desire it like a baby desires milk. Desire means not merely to want something, but to long for it with all of my being. It is a constant hunger like any person has for food — which not only brings health, but is necessary for life. Peter says “that you may grow” and I know that without the Word of God, my spiritual life will atrophy. I’ve seen it in others and felt it at times in my own life.

I can make myself drink a glass or two of milk every day so that I will be healthy. I’ve no excuse for not craving the milk of the Word. Peter spells it out quite clearly — if I’m not hungry for God’s Word, then I need to check and see what is happening to kill my appetite, then get rid of it.