The first year Lori and I were married, we lived in “married student housing” at Oklahoma State University. I had already graduated from college and was teaching and coaching. Lori was finishing up her last year. A couple of miles from our small apartment was a Braum’s ice cream store where cones were fifty cents a scoop at that time. I won’t lie…there were nights we craved, longed for, and yearned for a Braum’s ice cream cone. We would search our apartment for loose change until we had scrounged up a dollar and then happily headed to Braum’s. Now when we visit family in Oklahoma, we still make sure we enjoy a few Braum’s ice cream cones during our stay! Peter instructs us that there is something more important than food that we really need to long for.

1 Peter 2:2-3
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As we yearned for ice cream, believers should long for the nourishment that comes from the Word of God. But the sustenance that comes from Scripture is nothing like a sugar high that comes from a favorite dessert. We don’t open the Word to find a quick fix that temporarily meets our fleshly needs. God’s Word is real spiritual food that allows us to grow in our salvation and mature as followers of Jesus.

When, by consistently reading, you develop a taste for the deep truth, no-nonsense challenges, and eternal promises of Scripture, you can say with the believers through the ages— “This is really, really good!!”

Lord, encourage those who regularly read your Word. Convict those who do not. In Jesus’ name. Amen.