the Common Blog

This picture is of my 3 month old daughter, Anna Lisette Sorci, the night we brought her home from the hospital. I took this picture and shared it on twitter and facebook with the caption “and so it begins”. Anna is our third child and it’s funny how quickly you forget the challenges of having a newborn in the house.

If you have, have had or have ever been around a newborn baby you know that they pretty much do three things: Eat, Sleep, Pee/Poop and then repeat, and this simple three-fold process requires a ton of work.

Newborn babies, for the most part, are pretty uneventful and kinda boring. Early on, they don’t really do much except lay there, which is why I spend a lot of my parenting time wrestling, tickling, squeezing,

hanging up-side down and throwing around my two boys (I know the tea parties are coming).

But you will have a hard time searching for a louder, more furious, and even more violent display of desire than a baby who is hungry for milk (see picture).

The Apostle Peter, in thinking of this very same thing, wrote these words “like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation -” 1Peter 2:2 (ESV)

Peter, here, is of course talking about the way in which Christians should desire God’s word – he’s telling us to intensely long for the Scriptures just like a newborn baby longs to eat.

There are other passages in the bible that talk about the kind of desire that we should have toward the scriptures, but there isn’t a more vivid and descriptive place than Psalm 119, below are just a few.

“My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.” Psalm 119:20 (ESV)

“I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments” Psalm 119:131 (ESV)

“My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.” Psalm 119:148 (ESV)

When I read passages like these I think and feel a number of things like – Realization (I don’t desire God’s word like this.), Conviction (I should desire God’s words), Wonder (how can I get a desire like this?), Frustration (will I ever want God’s word this way!?)

Maybe you’re like me. You see the need you have for taking in more of God’s word. You really want to desire it like Peter and the Psalmist describe, you even recognize other things in your life that you desire like this and you wonder why you have such a hard time transferring that desire over to the bible.

If that’s you, I want to share with you just a few things that have helped me grow in this area (though I am far from panting for God’s word).

Pray/// I have often prayed Psalm 119:36, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain.”

Be honest. Cry out to God. Tell him you want to desire his word like this and that you feel helpless to do it. Ask him for help.

Dig/// So often we casually read the word. We open our bibles with no other intention than to just read a chapter. We don’t really expect to see God there, be amazed, be encouraged and grow.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Psalm 119:18 (ESV)

God’s word contains wondrous, amazing things and sometimes it takes asking God to show you those wondrous things to you and sitting there and meditating long enough for him to answer that prayer.

Friends/// Sometimes my friends who love God’s word and want to desire God’s word the same as I do encourage me when they share how and what they’ve been learning. Surround yourself with friends that love God and his word and conversation that are centered on God’s word.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 (ESV)