Milk the Cow - Daily Devotional December 12th, 2009

Daily Bible Reading - Job 14, Habakkuk 1, 1 Peter 2

Milk the Cow

I have never had the privilege of milking a cow and to be honest I hope I never get that privilege. I have however watched people milk a cow and it looks like a lot of hard work, at least till you get the technique down. All that hard work though pays off for the one who is milking the cow and for all of those that choose to enjoy it (I prefer chocolate milk or in cereal). I have actually witnessed people milk a cow and take that pure milk and drink it on the spot. That seems a bit excessive to me but....

Now days with all the heath regulations, laws and middle men by the time the milk gets to the table you never really know how pure it really is. If you look too closely at the non-fat milk it actually looks a bit like blue water (on second thought don't look too closely at it). It is not just all the regulations but they also have machines that take all the work out of milking the cow. Think about it by the time that machine milks the cow, the milk goes through all of those tubes and then is processed, put into plastic containers, shipped to warehouses and then to stores around the nation. How pure can the milk still be by the time it comes out of your refrigerator? Maybe it is disease free but it sure is not as pure as what that farmer gets first hand as he sits there and milks the cow.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:2, "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation". Milk is an essential part of growing healthy and strong as an infant and here Peter reminds us of that fact. Peter notices some things going on with the Christians and feels the need to encourage them. He encourages them to go back to the simplicity of the pure milk. Peter does not exhort them to grow up and get to the meat of the word but rather to go back to what fed them when they were young in order to grow healthy and strong again. In verse 1 of this same chapter it shows us some of the things that were going on with the believers; malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. The cure to these horrible things is "pure spiritual milk".

Pure spiritual milk just like pure milk comes straight from the source. Pure spiritual milk has not been processed by other people or filtered through their filter. It does not have other people's ideas and thoughts added to it. There is no non-fat, 1%, 2% or any other %, it is just pure spiritual milk. Yes there is work involved in getting that pure milk. Just like the farmer has to go out to the barn and go straight to the cow you must make time to go to your Bible for yourself and begin to pick it up, read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it and then live it. According to Peter this work of getting the pure spiritual milk is the way you and I can overcome many of the challenges in our lives. Do not get me wrong there is a place for the preaching of the word in group settings. It challenges us, encourages us and equips us but there is no substitute for getting the pure spiritual milk straight from the source. This is not just something we ought to do but according to 1 Peter 2:1 it is something we should "long for".

How about you today, are you getting the spiritual milk, or pure spiritual milk? Are there some things in your life that you are still not conquering? If so maybe we need to take heed to Peter's encouragement and go and MILK the COW.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - Job 15, Habakkuk 2, 1 Peter 3-5

Dream Big
Ben