1Pet 2:1 Therefore putting away all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envyings and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation,
[Part 2 of 2] If you are full of malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking, you will not have any appetite for the Word. You will not be hungry or thirsty for the Word of God. You will not have the longing, the desire, to drink the pure milk of the Word.
Suppose for quite a long period of time a particular brother has been filled with malice. He may speak evil concerning both brothers and sisters, both older ones and younger ones. This evil speaking has its source in the malice within him. To be sure, a brother in that condition will not have any appetite for the Word. From experience I know that he would neither hunger nor thirst for the nourishment in the Word of God. However, let us suppose that this particular brother receives the mercy of the Lord one day to realize his sinfulness.
Realizing his need of Christ as the sin offering and the trespass offering, he repents, confesses his sins, and prays, “O Lord, forgive me. For a long time, I have been filled with malice, and I have spoken in an evil way about others. Lord, this shows me that sin is within me. O Lord, I take You and apply You as my sin offering. Oh, may the blood of the sin offering cleanse me, Lord! I take You are not only as my sin offering, but also as my trespass offering all day long, Lord, I want to enjoy You.” If the brother prays in this way, soon he will begin to have an appetite for the milk of the word. He will desire to come to the Word for nourishment.
Spontaneously as he is reading the Bible, he will be drinking the guileless milk of God’s word. Eventually, this milk will get into his inward being and function as an antibiotic to kill the germ of malice. Furthermore, this brother will begin to love all the saints. He may say, “Oh, I love the brothers and the sisters. I love all the elders. All the saints are good, and all of them are better than I am.”
Prayer Confession Oh Lord my God thank you for this word. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and I meditate in it day by day. I increase hungrily in your word for it is the antibiotic that kills the germs of malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking within me unto an appetite of desiring more of your word that my soul maybe nourished in Jesus’ name, Amen.