Graham's First Sermon

Last Wednesday, my son, our firstborn child was born. That day he began a journey of learning and growth that will hopefully lead him to walking, talking, and beginning a new walk and rebirth into Christ. Certainly we are looking forward to all the things he will experience later in life, but for now we are enjoying his little baby noises and the five or six naps he takes every day. In these first days of his life, while we began teaching him to nurse, to sleep and to burp, Graham has already taught me so much more.

A newborn child only longs for one thing: milk. A wet diaper or being tired may be uncomfortable, but true longing is reserved just for his milk. The desire is there and is bought to fruition, but soon the effect begins to show. He begins to grow and develop, day by day, drinking that milk.

In 1 Peter 2:2, Peter says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” When Graham is hungry, he starts making a scrunched up face like he’s about to throw a fit. He wiggles around for a moment and then begins wailing, punching, and kicking and will not stop until he is fed. If we take his food away too soon, the same face appears and he starts to cry again. This is the image Peter is giving when describing our desire for the word of God.

When we love the Lord with our whole selves, His word is a feast for us each and every day. It’s got so much good stuffed packed in there and is available to us at every hour. And just as Graham grows with his milk, the spiritual milk we drink will make us grow into salvation. Unless we grow in the grace of God, studying and abiding more and more and growing in the word, can we say for certain we have grown up into salvation?