as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,
desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: The newborn ones have an intense hunger. Their desire is emphatic! The Lord gives us a lesson here on how to be hungry. He wants us to have a hunger like a new born babe--an intense, driving desire to know more about the word of God. The suggestion is that until we make a determination to make a clean break with sin in our lives, we are not going to have the desire for the word of God that we ought to have. We will continue to be full of the world and not the word of God. If we fail to make that clean break, we will be like the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. He was full on the husks, but he was not satisfied. Husks not only destroy appetite, but they actually pervert taste, causing us to be in danger spiritually. It is only when we eat from God’s word that we can expect the growth that will make us a strong Christian.