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. (1 Peter 2:1-3)

The Desire Of A Baby

Children remind the world of innocence. The humble spirit of a child is born from their lack of knowledge of the cruelties of life. They do not look at the world in the sordid, unpleasant, and evil way that characterizes the hearts of men. The beauty of childhood is its innocence. A newborn child has only a few needs: protection, provision, and a need to belong. As the baby grows, it begins to see the world in a darker light because knowledge opens the child’s heart to the depravity of man’s fall. One sad part of growing up is how the heart changes to see the evil in the world. What was once hidden is on clear display. The attitudes of the heart buried in the innocence of childhood are awakened.

There are some characteristics not found in the child’s heart. An evil heart is not found in the heart of a child. They do not understand evil behavior. A child’s heart is not filled with deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and unkind speech. These traits are learned from adults who live in a world of sin. Children naturally tend to be pure in heart and filled with an innocence of righteousness. What a child becomes is shaped by what parents teach. Only in the time of infancy is the heart pure and clean.

The Holy Spirit uses infants as an example of the Christian walk. Jesus told Nicodemus that salvation comes only from those born again. Nicodemus did not understand the metaphor Jesus was using, asking how a man can be born again from his mother’s womb. Jesus explained that the birth He meant was being born of water and the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but Jesus was teaching Nicodemus about those born of the Spirit. Paul later wrote about the new creation, where old things have passed away, and all things have become new. This symbolizes the new birth from the world of sin to a new life in Christ. To the churches in Galatia, Paul explained that circumcision or uncircumcision mattered not, but a new creation.

Babies need nourishment. They do not understand the science behind their hunger pains, but they do know they want something to eat. They have a natural desire to be fed without understanding why. Their desire is intense, and they will cry until fed. In the same way, a newborn child of God must hunger and thirst for the word of God. Christian growth comes from laying aside all the sinful attitudes of the word and desiring the pure milk of the word. The pure milk of the word is the untarnished, unstained, and unadulterated pure words of God’s mouth. There is a desire to know the character of God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Like an infant child, there is a driving need to be nourished by the pure milk of the word.

If a baby does not grow, people worry. Babes in Christ need to grow, or they will become malnourished, sickly, weak, and the condition could lead to death. Newborn Christians must grow. Having tasted the gracious mercies of the Lord, how can a new Christian not long for and desire to know all that can be known about their salvation? Growth must be a constant for the new Christian. Some older Christians, by virtue of physical aging, are still in the infancy of spiritual knowledge and have not grown to maturity. God wants His children to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Above all things – grow.