James Merritt - Got Milk
Every parent from the beginning of time has known that the one thing a newborn baby has to have in order to survive and thrive is milk. And it's not really cow's milk that a baby needs, it's a mother's milk. And there's a reason for that. God created moms with this incredible ability, to produce not just milk, but milk that is supercharged with fatty acids and vitamins and minerals and enzymes that are crucial if a newborn baby is gonna develop digestion and immunity to diseases. And so, if you wanna be honest about it, every one of us in this room owes our life to milk. Don't ever take milk for granted again. It is so important, and here's what's amazing about milk.
What is true physically about our bodies, is even more true spiritually about our souls, because you don't just need milk to live as a baby, you need milk to be what God wants you to be. If you're gonna survive and thrive in your relationship with God, you've got to have the milk of God's word. Now, you may think I'm making that up, you may think that's kind of a strange metaphor to compare the Word of God to milk. Actually, I didn't come up with the idea. One of Jesus' leading disciples, you may remember, his name was Simon Peter. Simon Peter actually came up with this idea that the Word of God is just like milk.
And I want you, if you have a copy of God's word or you wanna get on your iPhone or iPad or whatever you're looking at, we're in a book called 1 Peter. Easy to find, go all the way to the back of the New Testament, start turning left, and you'll come to a book called 1 Peter. It's about five or six chapters or five or six books from the end of the Bible. Now, we all know something. If you have a newborn baby and you've got milk, but you refuse to get that baby that milk, you just keep that milk in the refrigerator, you never give that baby milk. You would say, "Well, pastor, that's abusing that baby. That is neglecting that baby. That's just a crime against that baby".
Well, I want you to think about this. It is one thing to starve the body, a physical milk. It is another thing to starve your soul, a spiritual milk. Now, I don't mean to be ugly, I don't mean to be unkind, I do not mean to be condescending, I really don't, but I'll just be honest. I pastor at five churches, I've been pastoring for four and a half decades. The biggest thing that frustrates me, the biggest problem I've seen in every church I pastor is we have spiritual babies, who suffer from spiritual malnutrition, because you've got the milk, you just don't drink it. You've got the milk, you just don't digest it. And I see so many people. I believe you love Jesus. I believe you know God. I believe you trusted the Lord. I have no question, you have eternal life. I have no question, you have forgiveness of your sins, but you are so ill-equipped to what's going on in the culture.
You are so, so ill-equipped to what's going on in our educational system. You have such a deficient worldview. You believe so many things you shouldn't believe. You accept so many things you shouldn't accept. And the major reason why is, you are suffering from spiritual malnutrition. And the truth of the matter is, your spiritual life is emaciated, is weak because you lack the nutrients to be spiritually healthy. I hear so many Christians today. This is what I get, so much. We talked about it a lot at the Southern Bay's Convention two weeks ago.
People are saying, "Man, our culture is going to hell in a hand basket". And so many Christians are so concerned about the way our culture is rejecting Biblical Christianity. And unless you've been asleep, I got news for you. Our culture more and more, every day, is rejecting Biblical Christianity. I'm with you, I'm concerned just like you are. It burdens me just like it burdens you, but I wanna be very, very honest. I'm not nearly as worried about unbelievers who deny the Bible as I am about believers who disregard the Bible. I'm a lot more concerned about those of us who say, "We believe this Bible is God's word. We believe God offered this book. We believe it's what we need to live the life we ought live, and yet we never ever open it".
George Gallup put it this way. "Americans revere the Bible". If I were to take a vote right now, how many of you believe the Bible is the Word of God? I might get a unanimous vote unless you're a non believer or you're a skeptic, whatever. Most of you'll say, "Yeah, I believe the Bible's the Word of God". Yeah, we get that. "Americans revere the Bible, but by and large, they don't read it". Because they don't read it, they have become a nation of Biblical illiterates. Let me give you some statistics. Over 1/2 of all adults have read little to none of the Bible. 30% only read the Bible when they need to find something. Less than 25% have a systematic plan of reading the Bible.
Listen, I heard about a man one time, he had this system of reading the Bible. He would just open the Bible. He'd just turn to it and read a verse. So, he opened up his Bible and he read, "Judas went out and hung himself". He didn't like that. He closed it, opened it up again. And he read this verse, "Go and do likewise". So, there are people who don't have this plan of reading the Bible. They just kinda pick and choose. 35% of adults have never read, think about that, never read it, never opened it. Don't even know what's in it. Only 16% read the Bible everyday. Only 1/3 of regular church goers, now, think about that. That means if this survey is true, two out of three of you do not read your Bible every day.
Now, I'm not gonna ask this question, 'cause I'm not trying to fuss at you, and I'm not trying to make you angry, But it would probably be embarrassing if I said to you, how many of you were here last Sunday, and until this Sunday, you didn't open up your Bible one time this week? Probably it would be embarrassing. I wanna say it again. We've got milk, we're just not drinking it. And because we're not, we're starving ourselves of direction in how to walk, wisdom in how to think, and guidance in how to live. So, what I wanna do today, is I wanna share with you three habits. I'm gonna ask you to develop on a daily basis, three habits. And I'm gonna promise you if you will do it, your relationship with God is going to be as rich and as powerful and meaningful as it ought to be.
Three quick things will be done, ready? Number one, we must develop a heart for God's word. We must develop a heart for God's word. Now, let me just tell you something about the Bible. And boys and girls and teenagers, what's this that I'm gonna tell you? There's no other book like that book. Take every book that's ever been written, and every book that ever will be written, there is no book like this book. It is different from every other book. Let me tell you the number one way it's different. You say, "I know how it's different, God wrote it". Well yeah, that's true, but I'm not talking about God's end, I'm talking about our end. Let me tell you this between this book and every other book, you don't read this book with your eyes, you read this book with your heart. Every other book you just read with your eyes, but this is the book you read with your heart.
That's why Peter begins at 1 Peter 2, that's why Peter begins with this kind of a strange verse. He says, "Therefore," he's about talking He's gonna tell us about why we oughta read the Bible. But he says wait a minute, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind". It might not be a bad idea if every Sunday, we had a big sign out in front of our church. And before you walked in here, we said, "Hey, before you walk into this building, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind". And you may say, "Wait a minute, whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that got to do with reading God's word"? It's got everything to do with it, let me tell you why.
If you open this book, if you read this Bible, and you come to that Bible with a heart that is dirty from bitterness, and jealousy, and lying, and hypocrisy, and slander, if you don't allow God to convict you of that, if you don't allow God to let you repent of that, if you don't allow God to clean that, all of that out of you, you may open this book, but you won't get a lot out of it. You gotta read this book with a clean heart. You see, when we're about to read these verses, they're not just connected in order, verse one, verse two, verse three. They're is really connected in a real circular way. Let me tell you why. That word for rid it's a kind of interesting word. It literally means to strip off. And it's a word that takes that, refers to having dirty clothes and taking those dirty clothes off and putting clean clothes on.
So for example, you've been working out the yard all day, and you're sweaty, and you're dirty, but you're going to a real big dinner party that night. What are you gonna do? You're gonna come in. You're gonna take off those dirty clothes. You're gonna take a shower. You're going to get clean, and you're gonna put on clean clothes. Some of you can relate to this. I'm sure you were probably raised my way, but when I was going up, my mom had a rule, hard, fast rule. And I bet some of you'll know what it is. Before you came to the table, and before you put your feet under the table, and before you ate one bite of food, there was one thing we had to do. What do you think that was? Wash your hands. She did not want dirty hands handling her food. Likewise, God does not want dirty hands handling His words.
So, let me just give you something to think about. Have you ever thought about the fact that there may be times when you get nothing out of reading your Bible? And maybe it's because God knows you will do nothing with it when you read it? I've heard people say to me, "But you know, I'll tell you why I don't read my Bible". Why is it? "Well, I just don't get anything out of it". Let's just be honest. You think that's His fault or your fault? Why would God, when you open this book, why would God speak to you? If He already knows before He does, you're not gonna do what I tell you to do. You're not giving. If I tell you to give, you're still not going to give. You're not sharing Jesus with anybody. If I tell you to share Jesus, you're not gonna share Jesus. If I tell you that you shouldn't watch dirty things with your eyes, but you're gonna watch them anyway.
Why would God ever talk to you? So, I just wanna challenge you, if you're one of these people so I'll tell you what, "Well, I don't read it. I don't get anything out of it". Now, there'd be two reasons for that. Either A, you're not a believer. And if you're not a believer, I wouldn't expect you to 'cause you're on AM and He's on FM. But if you're a believer, maybe it's because, He already knows you're not going to do anything with it. That's why Peter says, "Look, you've gotta get rid of anything that will clog up your spiritual ears from hearing what God has to say". And then he goes through this long list. He says, "First of all, lay aside malice". Anybody here got any bitter feelings towards somebody? Holding any grudges? Somebody you'd like to get even with? He says, "He's not gonna speak to you".
How about deceit, dishonest, two-faced, have a hidden agenda, or how about this? How about hypocrisy? You're one thing on Sunday in this building, and another thing on Monday when you walk out of here. You're two-faced. You say one thing to somebody's face, you won't say it, or you'll say something else behind their back. You pretend to be something you're not. How about envy? You know what envy is? It's not only resenting what somebody else has. It's being angry, because you don't have what they have. Or how about slander? You spend all week gossiping, ruper mongering, tearing people down when you ought to be building people up? Peter says, "Look, if those things are in your life and you're not ready to get rid of those, you're not ready to lay those aside, you can open this book if you want to, but you'll be like a blind man reading invisible ink in a dark room".
So let me make it real easy for you to understand. You can be mad at your wife and read the Wall Street Journal. You can do that. You can cheat on your expense account, and enjoy Sports Illustrated. You can lie, gossip, be hypocritical, talk about people behind their back, you'll still be fascinated by National Geographic. But if there is sin in your life, and you're not willing to confess that sin, and condemn that sin, and get rid of that sin, and turn away from that sin, this will be a dead book to you. But now, let me turn this around.
When you approach this book like I did this morning, and I'll say even before I open it, Lord, if there's anything in my life, I need to know about, that I need to get rid of show it in your word today. Because whatever I find in your word that you tell me to do, I'm going to do it. And whatever I find in your word that you tell me not to do, I'm gonna stop doing it. When you come to this book and you say, "Okay, I'm gonna read this Bible with a clean heart". Here's what God does. God will not only tell you what to do, but when you do, God tells you what to do. He'll also tell you what you don't want to do, because He doesn't want you to do it. And here's the way it works. When you're doing what He wants you to do, and you're not doing what He doesn't want you to do, then you'll have a heart to hear what He has to say. So, if you are under 12 years old, I want you to remember the next statement I'm gonna give you. You might wanna memorize this, boys and girls.
I read this a long time ago. I heard it a long time ago, it's so true. "Either sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin. Either sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin". Let me just say this as an aside. I've talked to too many pastors who lost their ministry because they cheated on their wife. They had an affair with someone they were counseling with. They got into pornography. We hear about it all the time, and it makes me sick to my stomach. I cannot tell you how many pastors I've talked to that blew it. You know the one thing they had in common, every single one of them told me when I said to them, how in the world did you let this happen to you? You know what they said? "I quit having my quiet time. I quit spending time with the Lord. I quit getting into God's word". Either the Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.
Number one, you've gotta develop a heart for God. Number two, we must desire a hunger for God's word. We develop a heart for God's word, then you gotta desire a hunger for God's word. Now, Peter gets to God's word, listen to what he says. "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it, you may grow up in your salvation". Now, Peter compares God's word to milk. And he says, "Look, babies crave milk, babies cry for milk, babies consume milk". Now, if you've got a baby, I've had three of them. If you've got a baby right now, you know this, you don't have to beg your baby to drink milk. You don't have to plead for your baby to drink milk. You don't have to pay your baby to drink milk. And he says what, you know why? They'll let you know when they want milk. They'll let you know when they're hungry.
And what Peter is saying is, we oughta have the same appetite for God's word that a newborn baby has for the mother's milk. You know this. One of the signs you got a sick baby is if your baby won't drink milk. If your baby loses an appetite, you know, okay, we've got a problem. I'll never forget the last couple of weeks of my dad's life. My dad was always a big eater, always a big eater. And I'll never forget the last two weeks of my dad's life. There were certain types of food my dad would eat anytime, anywhere, any place. You put sausage and biscuit and gravy, and I gotta stop this. But there were certain foods if you put that in front of my dad, he'd eat it. But the last two weeks of my dad's life, he wouldn't eat anything. He literally did not want anything to eat.
Now, listen to me carefully. He wasn't sick because he lost his appetite. He lost his appetite because he was sick. So, I'm gonna be very blunt. If you're being honest enough with yourself and you say, "You know, pastor, I'm just gonna be honest. I just don't have any desire to study God's word. I just don't have any desire to read God's word". You're sick, you've got a problem. When you don't have any desire, no appetite for God's word, it is a symptom from God saying, "You've got a spiritual sickness". 'Cause think about this. When a newborn baby cries for milk, you already know nothing else is gonna satisfy that baby. You give that baby rattles. You can give him dolls. You can give him toys. You can play music. It doesn't matter, that baby wants milk.
There are certain times in a baby's life nothing else is going to do except that milk. And what Peter says is, "We've got to be just like that newborn baby. We've to stimulate a hunger for God's word". Let me tell you how you can do that. "So yeah, and tell me, I wanna read God's word. I wanna have hunger". How do you do that? Well, one of the ways you stimulate hunger for God's word is what you're doing right now. So, what do you mean? You came here today, you opened up your Bible, you're listening to me preach out of God's word. And one of the things I pray for every Sunday, before I wake up here, I'll say, Lord, let me say something today.
Let my people hear something today that will so stimulate them, and so move them, that if they'll wanna go read the Bible for themselves. How many times have you ever come? And you don't need to raise your hand. And I'm not looking for you to pat me on the back. But how many times have you come in here, and you've heard me maybe say one thing, and you said, "I didn't know that was in the Bible? I'd never heard that before". You know what God was saying to you right then? You ought to read the book, it's a good book. 'Cause I got news for you. I've said this to you before. I don't have a red phone by my desk that has a hotline to God. God wants to talk to you just like he wants to talk to me. God wants to share His word with you just like He shares His word with me.
And just like God wants me to speak His word through me, God wants to speak His word to you. Every day, God wants to give all of us a good spiritual square meal. But here's what we all know, it doesn't matter how well prepared the meal is. It doesn't matter how great this book is. It doesn't matter how good this book taste, you will not eat it if you are not hungry. And we've got to desire a hunger for God's word. See, here's the problem, there's nothing wrong with the food. The food is outstanding. The problem is, we don't have the appetite.
Now, I'm gonna mellow just for a minute, and then we'll get back to the message. You know why a lot of you don't have any appetite for God's word? Because all you do every day, and I'm not talking down to you, I do the same thing, I have to watch it. We eat and we live off of spiritual junk food every day, 'cause I got news for you. Most of what you see on television is junk. And most of what you read on Twitter, and Facebook, and Instagram is junk. And most of what you find on the internet is just junk. And here's what you'll find. Every time you think you're gonna slate your appetite, boy, if I can just read this or if I can watch this show, if I can listen to that music, I'll be good to go. Here's what you'll learn. The world's junk food will always leave you hungry. It will never satisfy. 'Cause the only thing that will satisfy a soul that is healthy is the Word of God.
We need to desire a hunger for God's word. We need to develop a heart for God's word. And then here's a third habit. We must devote a hearing for God's word. We must devote a hearing for God's word. Now, this is the biggest part of this message. And this is the part you're not gonna like the most. And this is the part that's gonna bother you the most. And this is the part that some of you just have to look in the mirror and say, "You know what, he's right". Peter says, "There's this one condition that you have to have if you're ever, ever going to have a heart for God's word. If you're ever going to have a hunger for God's word, there's one condition you've got to have, or this book will stay closed every single day, unless you happen to wander in here on a Sunday morning". Now, listen to what he says. "Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good".
Now I want you to listen. This is hard to listen to, you gotta hear it. I don't know where Peter was when he wrote this, but I'll tell you this, he must have been hungry. 'Cause all he talks about is tasting, and all he talks about is milk. And all he's talking about is food. He just can't seem to stop talking about food. 'Cause he talks about milk, then he talks about taste. Now, there's a reason for that. Why does he say this? Because the only benefit meat is ever gonna have to you, and the only benefit milk is ever gonna have you is if you taste it. You gotta eat the meat, you gotta drink the milk. It doesn't matter if it's the best steak in the world, it doesn't matter if it's the freshest milk in the world, you don't eat the steak, you don't drink the milk, not going to do you any good.
That's why you can go to the most beautifully laid out banquet table on the planet with the greatest food ever prepared. But if you don't taste it, you'll never eat it, you'll never digest it, and you'll starve to death. I remember one of the most miserable weddings I've ever done in my life. It was miserable, not because the wedding, the bride was beautiful. I don't think I've ever married a bride that wasn't beautiful. I married a few that just barely made it, but I don't think I've ever married a bride that wasn't beautiful. So it wasn't the bride, it wasn't the groom.
Here's the problem, here's why I was miserable. The reception was unbelievable. They had shrimp, they had filet mignon. They had garlic mashed potatoes. They had the best smelling green beans I think I've ever smelled. They had strawberry shortcake and they had ice cream. And I'm fasting. I learned my lesson, never fast during a wedding. I don't ever wanna do that anymore. Here was this unbelievable banquet, and it was free, and I could eat anything I wanted and all that I wanted, and I am fasting. So the food didn't do me any good at all. I couldn't taste it, I couldn't eat it. I wouldn't digest it, it did not matter.
See, there are two kinds of physical starvation, listen carefully. The first time is when you just quit eating, you just don't eat anything at all. You don't eat anything at all, you will eventually starve to death. We've all seen terrible pictures of children that look like walking skeletons 'cause they had nothing to eat, that's one way to starve. But there's another way that you can cure yourself, and that's by eating the wrong kind of food. 'Cause we don't know there are certain types of food you have to eat because if you don't, the vital organs of the body will get to break down. Your immune system will weaken, and eventually, it will kill you.
Let me tell you a story. Some of you probably remember this. Back in the early history of our country, when people began to travel by sea, the early pilgrims were looking, they wanted to come over to our country, it had religious freedom, but they had a real problem. Back in that day, they didn't understand the need for vitamin C. They didn't know what vitamin C was. So when they packed all their rations, they didn't pack any food that had vitamin C. Well, guess what happened? They developed a condition called scurvy. Their joints began to swell, their teeth began to fall out, their organs began to shut down, and many of them died, why? Is it because they weren't eating? No, they were eating food, but they were not eating the right kind of food.
Okay, now, here's where I'm going, everybody ready. This is the tough truth, and some of us need to own up to it. The real reason so many people have no appetite for the Word of God is because they have no appetite for the God of the Word. Let's just get honest. You have no appetite for the Word of God, because you have no appetite for the God of the Word. Tracey and I have moved to a house recently. And by the way, if you're thinking about moving, don't. Especially if you hadn't moved anywhere in 20 years, but we moved. And one of the things that we was way back covered up, were all the love letters we've written each other when we were dating. I hadn't seen them in, been married 45 years, I hadn't seen them. So, when she found them, I said, "Whatever you do, keep those out".
I wanna go back and I wanna read those letters again. Well, why would I wanna read a 45-year old letter? And why would I wanna read a letter to the girl that I'm already married to? Is because I love Theresa so much. She has satisfied every appetite any man could ever have. So I wanna read what she wrote to me. I wanna hear those words all over again. And the real reason why some of us don't have an appetite for the Word of God is because we don't have an appetite for the God of the Word. 'Cause here's the way it works, watch this. When you taste and see that the Lord is good, then you'll love God.
Well, when you begin to love God, it sets off a chain reaction. Because when you love God, now watch this, watch how it works. When you love God, you'll love the Word of God, taste and see that the Lord is good, then you'll hunger for God's Word. When you love God, you'll love the Word of God. Then it sets off this chain reaction, watch this. When you love the Word of God, you'll look at the Word of God. When you look at the Word of God, you'll learn from the Word of God. And when you learn from the Word of God, you will live the Word of God. That's the way it is, but where does it all start? It starts with loving God, that's where it starts. And the cold hard truth is, some of you have left your first love.
I love the church, but do you love God? I love religion, but do you love God? I love the fellowship we have in this church, but do you love God? I love to hear you preach truth, but do you love God? Because when you love God, you'll love the Word of God. When you love the Word of God, you'll look at the Word of God. When you look at the Word of God, you'll learn from the Word of God. When you learn the Word of God, you'll live the Word of God. Listen to me, there is nothing wrong with being a baby, there's something wrong with staying one. And it's time for some of you, I'm not trying to be funny, but it's really time for some of you to get your diapers off and pull on your big boy pants. Can I get an amen to that?
It's time for you to get into the Word of God. Listen, let me tell you what this book is. I get chill bumps thinking about it right now. This Bible is devotional truth for your heart. It is doctrinal truth for your mind. It is practical truth for your will. It is spiritual truth for your soul. And that's why I want you to understand something. It is not enough just to believe the Bible. It is not even enough to have a Bible that belongs to you. You want this book to really become real, you've got to behave the Bible. So, let me put it to you simply. Some of you need to quit reading the cookbook and some of you need to start eating the meal. It's time to get back into the Word of God.
Listen, let me just apply this message. We don't have any trouble. Listen, if I could read minds right now, you know what some of you're thinking? What you're going to eat after church. I don't know, don't sit and look holy at me, I know what you're thinking. Some of you love, man, I love this service, so we always beat the Methodist to the cafeteria. I know what you're thinking.
How often every day honestly do we think about food? We have no problem eating three good meals a day. We have no problem eating snacks in between. Can't you set aside a little time every day to feed from the Word of God? Most of my preaching, most of my preaching has not come, has not been inspired, because I got a book full, I got a room full of commentaries. I got 5,000 books in my library. I've got all kinds of stuff I can read. Most of my sermons don't come from that. You know where most of my sermons have come from? Just getting in this book every day, reading this book every day, and letting God speak to my heart every single day. It is a life-changing book, but it's more than that.
Let me tell you a true story. Back in the 1600s, Christians were being persecuted for their faith in England. And the Bishop of Edinburgh, a man named George Wishart, had been sentenced to death by hanging. But they had a custom back in that day, when you were going to be hung, they put the noose around your neck, but you could have a Psalm read out loud before you were hung. So they said to him, "What Psalm would you like"? He said, "I'll take Psalm 119". That is the longest chapter in the Bible. It has 176 verses, you ready for this? They got to verse 120, and all of a sudden, they heard the distant pounding of the hooves of a horse. The horseman was carrying a message from the king.
It was a pardon for George Wishart. Psalm 119 literally saved his life. This book, it's not just a life-changing book, it's a life-saving book. Let me tell you what this book can do for you, that the Pope can't do, that the preacher can't do, that the priest can't do, that the professor can't do. This book can save you from a lot of grief. This book can save you from a lot of heartache. This book can save you from a lot of regrets. This book can save you from a lot of sorrow. This book can save your marriage. And this book can save your soul. You got milk? Yeah, we got milk. We just need to drink it, so I'm gonna wrap up. There are only two kinds of babies that'll have a hunger from milk, only two; sick and dead. Only two kind of babies that don't want milk; sick babies, dead babies.
Now, if you don't have any appetite for God's Word, then maybe because you're spiritually sick, you're suffering from spiritual malnutrition. You're not growing spiritually. You're spiritually weak. And if the only remedy for you is to get back to the bottle of the Bible. But let me tell you something, if the only milk you drink is what you get from me on Sunday morning, you are gonna starve to death the rest of the week. But some of you say, "Well, no, I'm not spiritually sick". Now, I know what your problem is, you're spiritually dead. You've never tasted that the Lord is good. You've never experienced the grace of God. You've never received Jesus Christ as your Lord. Because it's only when you do, you become a spiritual newborn baby and you desire the milk of God's Word. So, I'm gonna ask the question one last time, God milk? I have, and it's the milk you need. And it is the milk you want when you become a child of God.
Would you pray with me right now with heads bowed and eyes closed? I want you to get honest with yourself just for a moment. Those of you are watching online right now, just get honest. Please, get honest. Listen to me, if you've got no desire on a daily basis to hear what God has to say to you in His Word, you are either sick or you are dead. Let's deal with the dead. Can I be honest? If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I'm not, I don't fuss at you for not having a desire. You shouldn't have a desire, you're dead.
Dead people don't desire anything. But I'm telling you, when you truly taste that the Lord is good, when you understand you're a sinner and you need a savior, when you understand that Jesus died for you and came back from the grave, so that He could give you a heart to read the Word, ears to hear the Word of God, eyes to see the truth of God. When you become a child of God, you won't believe how this book comes alive. You won't believe how real this book will become to you, but it must first happen in your heart when you become a child of God. And if you would say, "I wanna taste and see that the Lord is is good". Would you just tell Him that right now? Just say something like this. Just say:
God, I am spiritually dead and I know it, but I'm asking you right now, Lord, to give me life. I've been in spiritual darkness. I ask you, dear God, to turn on the light. Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I need a Savior. I believe you died for my sins. I believe God raised you from the dead. I believe you're alive right now. Lord Jesus, come into my heart, save me, forgive me of my sins. I accept all that you are Lord Jesus, and that all that I am. I've tasted you right now, I see you are good. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for giving me eternal life. And now, Lord Jesus, give me a heart to obey your Word. Give me eyes to see your Word. Give me ears to hear your Word. And thank you that I'll know the rest of your life every day you're gonna speak to me through your Word.