Crave the Milk of the Word

1Peter 2:2,3 Like newborn babies, crave the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Those who have been saved have an inherent craving for the Word. Thus one indicator of a person's salvation status is whether they are regularly studying the Bible with a view towards application. Growing as a Christian is firstly a function of Bible study, apart from which there will be no spiritual growth. And then developing applications from Bible study indicates one has embraced its truths. Just as in school one first learns the facts and later learns to apply them, so also with the Christian life.

Beware of the tend some have gotten caught up in of replacing the Bible with an existentialistic experience of Christ. Growth is gained through Bible study and not simply by having "experiences". While Biblical Christianity contains both of these, many abandon the Bible, replacing it with a New Age type of Jesus that they "feel", and go on to make such a "Jesus" in their own image, making up their own doctrine. That's why we have the Bible - to ensure that our experience of Christ is an experience of the Biblical Christ and not some idol.

Start with the basics. What are the fundamentals of the faith. What are the essential elements of the gospel and what constitutes basic Christian living? Paul writes to the immature Corinthians, "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready." 1Cor 3:2 Don't delve into issues of advance theology until you have embraced and applied the fundamentals. Realize also that you are required to mature and even to go on to teaching. Hebrews 5:12 says, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" So get on with it! "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteous living. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Heb 5:13,14

Realize also that not all who have tasted of the good Word of God have been genuinely saved. By their fruits you will recognize them. And beware, for "it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned." Heb 6:4-8