English Christian Article 

The Word
Key to Eternal Life

         Here, the word is speaking of the importance of the word, ‘the exceeding great and precious promises' that is able to make us partakers of the divine nature of God and it has given us all things that we need. Exactly how this happens is explained by Jesus when He talked about the word being like a seed in the parable of the sower. (Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8)

         When the disciples asked him what it meant, Jesus asked them how come they didn't understand? And if they didn't know what this parable meant, how would they understand any other parable. Jesus considered this principle of the word as seed to be vital to the understanding how the kingdom of God works.
Mark 4:14 ‘the sower soweth the word'. 1 Peter 1:23 "the incorruptible seed" that is able to give life. But it cannot produce the plant that bears fruit if not planted and rooted deep in your heart. And by planting, it does not mean reading alone. You cannot simply read a verse that says you're healed and look in the mirror tomorrow, decide you're still sick and say the word does not work. That's like digging up the seed after planting to see if it's working but you end up killing it instead. There is a seed time when you plant the seed, believing what the word says as true and disregarding anything you might ‘see' or ‘feel' and then comes harvest time. No one planting a crop today in the natural can expect a harvest tomorrow and the same is true of the word too.

          Jesus said, (Mk 4; 26-29) that we don't know how the seed works but that it does work. The man casts seed in the ground and then sleeps and rises and days go by and he does not know how but that the earth brings forth fruit of itself, slowly, first the blade, then the ear and after that the full corn in the ear. Likewise the heart is such. So, the seed takes time to come forth. To take the promises in the word and keep believing it, protecting it and reminding yourself of it and most importantly not digging it up by unbelief. No one who plants for a crop just plants the seed and goes away forgetting to water it and protect it from insects and things. The same principle applies to the word planted in your heart.

                           Jesus also spoke of 4 different types of heart.
1. The first didn't understand the word and this was when the devil was easily able to snatch it away from them. Understanding of the word comes when you've been paying attention to the word and carefully considering it. Prov 4: 20-22 ‘My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those that find them and health to all their flesh.' Reading and paying attention to what God is trying to tell you are important in getting the life of the seed working for you.

2. The 2nd heart Jesus talked about is the one that hears the word and receives it gladly but doesn't allow it to be strongly rooted in the word that comes with time but instead springs up quickly and when difficult times or persecution because of the word comes, gets offended and doesn't end up bearing fruit. A person that's offended isn't one that has completely stopped believing or that has rejected the truth but someone who is not as enthusiastic as he once was and stops holding fast to the word of truth. He still believes that God can do anything but doubts if He will. The only real solution is to go back and give the word time to saturate your whole mind and heart so that the roots go down deeply.

3. The 3rd type of heart is the person that hears the word but the deceitfulness of riches and the care of this world choke the word. It is not money that chokes the word but the love of money and the preoccupation with the lack of it that makes the word unfruitful. Worries, anxiety, fear of the future, plain unbelief all hinder the word from working in our lives. If we end up so busy that there's no time to sit and soak in the word, it won't have the desired results. Really believing the word comes from meditating on it. Not everybody has the time for that and it doesn't mean to quit your families and jobs to go and sit on a mountain till the word bears fruit but it does mean more than just a 5 min devotion.
Even while working or doing normal activities during the day, our mind keeps on worrying of tomorrow or on other simple things like what do I wear to work today? Or what's for dinner etc. Worry is basically the heart meditating. If we can catch ourselves thinking on other things and instead focus it back on the word, we would be able to see the fruit for sure.

           Even in the Christian world, we get so caught up with things like the will of God, wayward children, praying for the needs of the world, fellowshipping, holiness and a million other things but never focusing on the simple thing of planting the word. It's like a ship at sea without a compass. You'll wander aimlessly and may be accidentally get into the right course for short periods of time. The word is the compass, our focal point. It's the horizon for which we aim for. As long as our eyes are on Jesus, we'll be on the right course. The will of God becomes clear; we enter into rest through believing. We have joy unspeakable and brotherly love. Our soul is washed by the word and that takes care of holiness. All things become clear in the light of the word.

4. The 4th type is the one that has first of all heard the word of truth and not ignorant of it and understands it. Faith comes by understanding the word. And the person has meditated on it day and night, delighting in the word (Ps 1) desiring the sincere milk of the word after tasting that the Lord is really good (1 Pt 2:3) and this person in due time brings forth a harvest of 30, 60 or 100 fold.

         A wonderful example of the seed principle is what happens after Jesus teaches the disciples. He told the 12 not less than 8 -10 parables of the word being like seed, the word powerful etc. and then the same day (Mk 4:35) in the evening he says ‘lets pass to the other side of the lake' where he was teaching the people. So they set out in their little boat to go to the other side but in the middle, a huge storm comes in and they end up nearly drowning.
Jesus was sleeping in the back somewhere and the disciples wake Him saying, ‘Don't you care, Jesus? We're in trouble!' Jesus wakes up and calms the storm. Many people today in the middle of crisis simply blame God thinking He doesn't care or that he doesn't want to help them. We even sometimes impute iniquity to the Lord.

        Jesus turns to the disciples and rebukes their fear from which unbelief comes from and asked how it was possible for them to have no faith. The truth is that anyone of them, if they had only believed what Jesus had been teaching them the whole day, could have stood up and rebuked the storm themselves. Jesus had already given them the power to do so when he said, ‘let's pass over to the other side' before the problem was even there. Having done all that he could, he was at rest and even sleeping in the boat.

         It is the same really with us even today. Jesus has already finished it all, disarmed all principalities and powers (Col 2:15), healed all our sicknesses (1 Peter 2:24), made us rich in Christ (2 Cor 9:8), etc but still we sit and cry, ‘Lord, don't you care that we're hurting or poor or sick or frail?' We haven't bothered, in the meanwhile to plant any seed of the word, consider it more than gold (Ps 19) and in times of crisis cry like an unbeliever.
         God in His great mercy is amazingly longsuffering towards us and he rescues us even in situations that He has given us the power to overcome easily just like he calmed the storm that day for the disciples. "..and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith" 1 John 5:4. But His better way for us is to simply believe and be saved. It's definitely less stressful and the Christian life was meant to be effortless just like Jesus'. When the bible says Jesus was tempted in all points like we are, it doesn't mean that he was tempted to lie, steal, kill or anything that tempts the unbeliever but he was tempted with unbelief and the way He overcame it was with the word. He knew by God's word that he was the Christ, the beloved son of God and the devil comes to Him and says, ‘oh yeah? If you are the son of God, prove it. Turn these stones to bread.' (Guess what? Turning stones to bread isn't sin and Jesus had even turned water to wine at another time). But Jesus didn't doubt the word and go about proving anything to his flesh but the word came out of Him effortlessly but which He submitted his body under its authority, negating anything the devil said. His flesh told him, ‘Jesus, you're only human. You need bread to live'. But Jesus knew it was the word that caused Him to live.
         Today, if we see our empty wallet or our sick x-rays or doctor's reports, it should not be the truth to us. The word is the greater reality. You don't need to run to the nearest preacher or pastor every time to borrow from their harvest. You can have to eat from your own if you don't doubt the power of the word and plant it yourself. Heb 4:12 ‘For the word of God is quick and powerful (living and active), and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.' 

         One final thought. Jesus cautions us also to be careful what we plant or what we allow to be planted. Mark 4: 24. ‘And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure[of thought and study] you give [to]the truth you hear] will be the measure[of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.' If you plant seeds of unbelief, don't be surprised to reap that. But planting the good seed of the word, you'll reap life everlasting out of which every good thing is yours. Jesus said His words are spirit and life. So only believe and you will be saved. Know today you are richly blessed, deeply loved and highly favored by the Father. Grace and peace be multiplied to you according to the knowledge of Him. 

by Zenobia Grace Antony