Developing a Hunger for God’s Word

"Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:1-3).


Do you love the word of God? I asked that question from the pulpit of my Church and almost everyone raised their hand to say yes. Now, if I were to asked the church for a show of hands of all those that read the bible regularly, would there be the same amount of hands raised? The psalmist wrote, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

The Psalmist not only declared that he loved the word, but that he meditated on the word “all the day.” Can we really say we love God’s word if we are not meditating on it regularly? Do you long for the word of God? Do you desire the word of God? Listen again to what the Psalmist had to say about the word of God, “I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments” (Psalm 119:131).

Why did the Psalmist love and long for the word of God? Because the Word of God is the revelation of God. Through the word of God we come to know the God of the word. Knowing and experiencing God is what we were created for. The Psalmist also wrote, "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).

The reason that the Psalmist had a passion for the Word of God was because he knew God intimately. And the more you know him the more you want to know him. And it’s through the living and abiding word that we come to know God. When my wife and I were dating I wrote her many love letters that she loved to read. And she would save these letters so that she could reread them. The word of God is God's love letter to us—His word is his revelation to us about Himself. And if we do not love God's word, either we don't know God or something is terribly wrong.

Peter wrote, "As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." Have you ever had to get up in the middle of the night to feed a crying baby? Then you understand the kind of intense desire that Peter is saying we need to have for God’s word if we are to grow spiritually. How do we develop a hunger for God's word:

I. Do away with sin:

Peter writes, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (v. 1-2). The word “wherefore” in verse 1 connects the previous verse in chapter one to what Peter is saying here in the beginning of chapter 2. In the last part of chapter 1 Peter writes about how the word of God brought us to salvation (v.22-23).

And in verses 24- 25 of chapter 1 Peter writes, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

Everything in this life fades away, but one thing on this planet that will endure forever is the word of God. Therefore Paul says, lay aside all sin and desire the word of God. The word of God is timeless. There is nothing in this life that will be worth desiring more than the word of God. There is nothing that will bless you more in all the areas of your life that matter, than desiring, trusting, and living by the word of God (Psalm 1).

Therefore Peter writes, “…lay aside all Malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking.” Malice is a general word that speaks of all kinds of wrong behavior especially as it relates to others. Guile speaks of being deceitful and hypocrisies means pretending to be someone you’re not. When we try covering up our wrong doing by being deceitful and hypocritical, this only leads to more sin like envy and evil speaking (slander and gossip). And the reason that Peter says to lay aside sin, before he says to desire the word, is because sin suppresses our appetite for the word of God. If we are going to develop a desire for the word of God, we are going to have to first and foremost lay aside the sin in our lives.

Many Christians have one foot in the world and one in the church. And because of that there’s no real hunger for God's word. It’s been said that sin will keep you from the word or the word will keep you from sin. How in the world will we have a hunger for God's word if we spend more time feeding our flesh with the filth of this world, rather than our spiritual lives? If we want to develop a hunger for the word we need to get out of the world and into the word. And as we get into the word and develop a hunger for the word the word will keep us from going back to the world.

Get off the fence and get into the word. Get off those filthy internets sites and into the word. Get out of those places that you shouldn't be frequenting and into the word. Get away from that person you shouldn't be hanging out with and into the word. Get out of that sinful relationship and into the word. The word will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the word.

II. Develop in the scriptures:

After Peter exhortation to lay aside sin he writes, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” O how we must recognize how essential the word of God is for our Spiritual development. There's a desire that grows out of recognizing a vital need that you have that without it being meet will result in great lost. If you have neglected taking care of yourself physically and you have a heart attack how might that change your desire for eating right and exercising? There's a desire that grows out of necessity but there is a superior desire that grows out of delight. But you'll never get to the place of delight until you get to the place of necessity where you are convinced that you must get in the word of God or you will not grow. In fact, if you're not in the word, not only are you not progressing spiritually you are regressing. And eventually you won't be able to hide it anymore. Remember that one of the sins that Peter said to lay aside is hypocrisy. Why? Because if you don't have a desire for the word I can guarantee that you're just playing church. In fact not only are you playing you're straying.

Do you want to develop a desire for the word? Read the word of God whether you feel like it or not. Why? Because it’s a matter of life or death? Because you will not develop a desire for the word unless you get into the word. And if you have no desire for the word of God it's a sure indication of spiritual ill health. If you go to the doctor because you’re anemic---and the reason you’re anemic is because you’re not eating; what is the doctor going to advise you to do? The doctor is going to advise you to eat. And if you say that you don't feel like it, what's he going to advise you to do? He’s going to advise you to eat, even if you don't feel like it. Can I tell you that one of the best ways to develop an appetite for the word is to just begin to read it with a heart that recognizes its desperate need for God? Read it, meditate on it and study it and you will find that you will develop a desire for the word of God.

The more you read the word of God the more you'll want to read it. The less you read it the less you'll want to read it. It’s as simple as that. Later I’m going to give you some tips for reading the scripture in a way that will increase your desire for God and his word.

III. Delight in the Savior:

In relation to desiring the word of God Peter writes, “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”(1 Peter 2:3). Desire for the Word of God comes from having tasted the grace and goodness of the Lord. Having tasted His goodness in salvation and living your life in close communion with the Lord will stir within you a longing for His word. The reason that someone would have no desire for the word is either they’ve never tasted the grace and goodness of God or they’ve drifted from that close intimate relationship with God that apart from God's word you can’t experience. Have you tasted that the Lord is good?

“The image of milk and of tasting the Lord’s kindness brings up the fact that the Word is not just to fill your head with knowledge. It is to fill your life with delight as you get to know the Divine author and enjoy Him in all His perfections. Taste points both to personal experience and enjoyment. I can’t taste for you, nor you for me. We can only taste for ourselves. To taste something, we’ve got to experience it up close. You can see and hear and smell at a distance, but you can only taste something by touching it to your tongue. You can only taste God’s Word by drawing near to God and personally appropriating the riches of knowing Him. Once you like the taste of something, you don’t just eat it to live; you live to eat it. You want it as often as you can get it. God’s Word is that way for all who have tasted His kindness” (Steven Cole).

Do you want to taste the goodness and grace of God? Do you want to experience the delight of a close and intimate relationship with the Lord? You must get to know him and his word for yourself. And here some keys to reading the bible in a way that leads to defeating sin, developing spiritually and delighting in the savior:

1. Prioritize the word (Make time to read the bible daily and to study it on your own at least once a week.

2. Ponder the word (Take a portion of the word from your reading to meditate upon and think about how it applies to your life.)

3. Pen the word (Have a pen in hand to make notes and a journal to write what God is teaching you. Writing has a way of making you think deeply upon the word.)

4. Personalize the word ("Personalizing Scripture" means taking God's Word and applying it to yourself by re-phrasing it in the first person singular.)

5. Pray the word (Let your time in the word and the verses that your personalize become your prayer to God.

6. Practice the word (You want to be blessed by the word you must do more than hear it and read it you must obey it.

7. Proclaim the word (Share what God is showing you with others. Someone said that the more of the word of God you give away the more it will stick with you.

The Psalmist wrote, “I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments” (Psalm 119:131). Do you have that longing for God’s word? If you don’t it could be that you don’t know God—that you’ve never tasted the grace of salvation. I plead with you to receive Jesus as your savior by trusting that He died for your sin and rose again to give you life. And then begin to take in the milk of the word of God.

It could be that you are saved but you don’t have a desire for God’s word because of sin in your life. Confess and forsake it. Do away with sin. In addition Jeremiah wrote, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts" (Jer. 15:16). If you don’t have a desire for God’s word draw near to God by making time to develop in his word and he will draw near to you. As God draws nigh you will taste his goodness and delight in the savior. You will long for God's word.