04/08/2024 – When we are born of the Spirit, it is forever
1 Peter 1: 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
Our natural birth is part a cycle that leads to death. Every achievement, every joy we experience is only temporary. Like a flower, we may bloom in the beauty of our youth. We may rejoice in our strength for a time. But eventually, all our energy will be spent and like a flower we will also wither and die. But when we are born of the spiritual seed, that cycle of death is broken. We enter a new cycle of life in which death no longer plays a role. We grow from glory to glory. We are born of an imperishable seed, and that seed is the word of God. Heavens and earth may pass away, but the word of God remains forever.
No wonder Peter pleads with us to feed on that word. The word of God was not only given for our forgiveness and to keep us from death. It is the word by which we grow constantly and continuously. We are not to simply believe it and put it away. We are to feed on it always.
When we are born in the spirit, the most evident sign we are alive is an appetite for the word of God. We must never lose this appetite. We are commanded to crave the milk that is the word of God. To grow spiritually, we need nourishment. It is provided through ministry of the word of God. The Bible is not only a book of reference or an icon that represents our religion or system of beliefs. The Bible is our nourishment. We need to feed on this word constantly that we may grow continuously.