"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
That is a lot packed into just a few lines. So much so that it is rather jumbled by the end. I'm currently using the NKJV. However, for the sake of unwrapping this, I'm going to include a few other versions as well. That last line makes it sound like the author is expressing doubt that his readers even know Jesus and that doesn't sit right with me.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (NIV)
So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, 3 if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness. (NET)
Stop being hateful! Quit trying to fool people, and start being sincere. Don’t be jealous or say cruel things about others. 2 Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved. 3 You have already found out how good the Lord really is. (CEV)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, of all deceit, hypocrisy and envy, and of all the ways there are of speaking against people; 2 and be like newborn babies, thirsty for the pure milk of the Word; so that by it, you may grow up into deliverance. 3 For you have tasted that Adonai is good.[a] (CJV)
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (NRSV)
Okay, now that we have these other comparisons to go by, let's talk.
The first part is pretty obvious. Because God has placed His Word inside of us and is the center of our lives, there are some things we need to get rid of. With His help of course. You see, God is Love. God is good. The bad things in life such as malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander can NOT exist with Love and goodness. So either you have God as the center of your life, or you don't. If you don't, you will have a void that the devil will gladly exploit. So God is worth it.
The comparison to babies is not new. In an earlier verse, we were compared to children. They need guidance because otherwise their ignorance will get them hurt. We are the same way. Now we have that reference again. This time it concerns what we eat. Babies drink milk because they do not have the ability yet to handle more solid food. We all need to start there, with God's Word. As we can handle more, God will give us more to learn. Someday we will live with Him and get to enjoy a feast (both metaphorically and literally.)
Finally that last part. Some versions say we will give up bad aspects of our character and focus on His Word because we have experienced how wonderful God is. Other versions say that if we have experienced how wonderful God is, then we will give up bad aspects of our character and focus on Him. I'm not seeing a difference in those two message wise. Just a matter of which part is spoken first is all. Basically those who know God don't want to leave Him for anything else.
Before you object by pointing out those who leave the church... I want to tell you something. People who leave the church (speaking from my life and from those of my friends) leave because their focus is on the humans in the church. Church leaders and church members that were trusted. Humans. And humans mess up because humans aren't perfect. People who leave the church didn't keep their focus on God, but on man. So you see, if you have God in the center of your life, you will gladly work with Him to improve your character and to learn more of Him in His Word.
No comments:
Post a Comment