Word Seed

July 1, 2008

By Jerry Scott

One of my parents’ greatest gifts to me is a familiarity with Scripture created through regular attendance at Sunday School and church, along with the reading of the Word in our home. Thanks to their teaching, my brain is full of passages from the Bible, stories of the Old Testament heroes and Jesus, and teaching about the Christian life from the letters of Paul. I evaluate life and the world around me through the filter of the Word.

Bringing the eternal wisdom of God to bear on life’s challenges is an act of faith and requires discipline of mind and spirit. More than a few times my way has been a long dark walk of faith, not sight. In those times I cling desperately to what I discover God has said. I am comforted, corrected and guided by the wisdom of the Word, which the Spirit brings to my consciousness again and again.

Jesus said the Word is like seed planted in us!

“What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. … Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams” (Matthew 13:3-8,18-23 “The Message”).

Will you open your heart and mind to the Word Seed? Give yourself to diligent study. Thank God for the promises and the boundaries; the correction and the comfort. Be like Jeremiah who exclaimed: “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty” (Jeremiah 15:16, NIV).

— Jerry D. Scott is senior pastor at Washington (N.J.) Assembly of God.