The following blog post was originally published in May, 2017. —ed.

Newborn babies are not ambivalent about their need for milk. It’s not simply one of their dietary options or preferences. They desperately need it and can’t possibly survive without it.

The apostle Peter likened that urgent craving to the kind of hunger Christians should have for God’s Word: “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow” (1 Peter 2:2).

Clearly, that kind of desperate hunger and passionate longing cannot be satisfied by a cursory reading of God’s Word. Christians obviously cannot get the nourishment they need or crave by simply flopping open their Bibles and reading a few random verses.

We recently asked John MacArthur to clarify the difference between feeding on God’s Word and merely reading it. Here’s what he had to say:

Watch this one-minute video clip:

Do you fervently study God’s Word because it is the only source of the spiritual sustenance you crave? Or are you simply checking a box in your daily devotional routine?

We need to go beyond Bible reading as a mechanical ritual. Approaching God’s Word with a pure heart—no longer clinging to the pet sins we once loved—opens our eyes to the profound depth and meaning of Scripture. When we come to God’s Word with purity of heart, and the ability to rightly interpret it, then we can truly meditate—feed—on the rich and deeply satisfying truths of Scripture.