Wasp or Crow?

Wasp or Crow?

“Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 – New American Standard Bible).

A wasp grows from its larvae state to its fullness before it ever leaves the nest. When it flies from the nest, it flies away as big as it will ever get. A crow, on the other hand, continues to grow until its death. The crow will hatch from the egg and continually grow in size over a life span that can last well over fifty years. The bigger a crow, the older that crow is.

A poll of “born again” Christians yielded some astonishing results. Only eighteen percent of polled Christians said they read the Bible every day, while twenty-three percent said they NEVER read it. It is IMPOSSIBLE to grow as a Christian without CONTINUAL study of God’s word.

Peter tells us about our call to holy living in 1 Peter 1:13-2:3. If you read that, you will see some tough things to live up to, but Peter tells us in verse 2 to desire the WORD. Why? He knows it will help us to see God’s character, correct us in our wrongs, learn of what Jesus commanded and did, and provide instruction for living, serving, and relating to one another. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 put it this way; “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (NASB). I think we often fear God’s word because we KNOW it will convict us to change our actions and attitudes. James tells us that that fear turns to freedom and blessing; “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25 – NASB).

Look closely…how does Peter tell us to desire the word? Yes, like a baby wants milk. If you’ve ever been around a baby, you know that when they get hungry, they will wail until you feed them. Everyone around will know when a baby is hungry. I think that is a beautiful picture of how God wants us to yearn for His word. He wants us to know Him! And, just like a baby needs milk to grow, we need God’s word to grow.

Don’t wait for someone to feed it to you all the time! Feed yourself, and as you have questions pray, seek out mature Christians, Sunday school teachers, and/or your pastor to discuss these things with.

Some Christians are like the wasp; they are saved (fly from nest) and never grow. Some are like the crow: they are saved (hatched from the egg), and they grow and grow and grow right up until they are gone.

One question; are you a wasp or crow?