Sowing God’s Word

You may have heard the saying, “You reap what you sow.” This idiom means that there is an effect for everything a person does or says, and that the effort a person puts into something will eventually be rewarded appropriately in this life or the next. The general idea behind “you reap what you sow” is that actions have consequences. The effects of a person’s behaviors are not necessarily apparent right away, such as when a farmer has to wait a while for a crop to mature; nevertheless, they show up eventually. We sow God’s Word out of our hearts and into the world. As Converterlators our goal is that all of those words would reap eternal benefits!

Sowing to the Spirit of God begins with praising God, rejoicing in his marvelous provision of salvation with expressions of gratitude. God loves and responds to these expressions of faith: “Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise him. Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for him on the ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy” (Psalm 33:1–3, NLT).

We must stay focused 
on God’s Word 
and let it influence
 every situation we encounter.

We often think of meditation as quiet reflection, and it is! But our sowing is directly related to our meditation, because the sowing comes out of the meditation! The heart absorbs whatever it is soaking in, so a cursory reading of the Bible is not enough. We must spend time with God’s Word. Scripture is living and powerful; it impacts how we think, feel, and act. Again, our sowing comes from our meditation. The two are intrinsically linked. Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, NKJV, emphasis added).

God wants to transform us into the likeness of his Son for service in this world! We will be equipped to make a difference for all eternity when we memorize, ponder, and meditate on his Word. As we spread our wings of faith, the wind of the Spirit lifts our soul above the corrupting influences of the world, cleansing our heart and mind, so we can focus on the kingdom values God wants to instill in the depths of our soul. Reciting our verses and praying them from within our soul, assures that we are praying according to the will of God. And God promises that he hears us and will answer in his way and time. “And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. If we know he hears us every time we ask him, we know we have what we ask from him” (1 John 5:14–15, NCV).

We are counseled in the New Testament to “Let the message of Christ dwell among [us] richly as [we] teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in [our] hearts” (Colossians 3:16). When we trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are sealed by the Spirit of God, and we are justified and made acceptable to Almighty God. We are secure in him and are in a position to do the works he has prepared for us to do. When our hearts are filled with his Word, it will help expel the things that would lead us astray, such as wrong attitudes, desires to sin, and the lures of the world. And it will help us to focus on all that he has for us.

We must spend time
with God’s Word.

I find my own heart is stirred when I recite and pray my Spiritual M & M verses to the King. When we do this we know we are praying in accordance with the will of God. After all, it is his Word we are sowing back to him. And I have found that God responds in a powerful way when I do this.

In Jeremiah we read, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty” (Jeremiah 15:16). Here, we see the mechanics for experiencing God in our lives. When the words of God came to him, Jeremiah ate them. In other words, he internalized them by memorizing and meditating on them (Spiritual M & Ms!). These words became his heart’s delight! That is why I like to say, “Read it, eat it, live it … and God will visit to perform his Word toward you.”

In the book of Psalms we read, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). As we delight in the Lord and his Word, his desires will become our desires. Our prayer life will come into harmony with his will. We will see more answered prayer because we are praying in conformance to his desires: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15).

The way we think, act, and talk all reflect what is in our hearts. What we nurture in our hearts will govern our behavior. We need to stay focused on God’s Word in order to be filled with Christ and accomplish his purposes. When we sow God’s Word, we will find that our converterlating takes on new direction, meaning, and impact!

In what ways do you see the meditation of God’s Word coming out in your words and actions?

Continue reading “Flowing with the Holy Spirit”

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