The Need to Water the Seed of God's Word
(Overcomer Wu)

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God...” -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Every single Christian has been “bought with a price” by the Lord to be the His field in which His “incorruptible seed” is to grow and be cultivated for it to bring forth fruits to the glory of God. Christians are God’s “farm” (1 Cor 3:9m) -- His “husbandry” -- His “field”--His “garden.” A “field” belongs to its owner. So Paul says, “You are not your own…you are bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:19-20). God holds the title deed. We are absolutely His. We belong to Him by right of creation and by right of preservation. But the greatest fact is that we belong to Him by right of redemption – because He “bought” us with an infinite price to be His “field.”

In the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter thirteen, our Lord Jesus clearly told us, “The seed is the Word.” Furthermore, 1 Peter 1:23 tells us that God's Word is the “incorruptible seed.” God brings about His wonderful harvests in the same way a farmer does – first by sowing. Jesus said, “Behold, a sower went forth to sow” (Matt 13:3). Thus, the apostle Paul also said to the Corinthians, “I have planted” (1 Cor 3:6).

God wants all His Word to be planted as “seed” into our heart. Even in nature, God’s purpose in creating seed was that it might be planted in “good ground” where it could germinate, “grow” and “bring forth much fruit.” So Paul said, “I have planted.” Most seeds are pretty static and powerless until they are planted. The infinite price God paid for the “field” reveals the importance of planting the “incorruptible seed.” All the divine purpose and the finished product that God desires to see in us and in the Church are contained potentially in this “seed.” Yet God’s works are prevented until the seed is allowed to grow in “good ground.” His design for us all is that we spend our lives making possible the germination and growth of the “incorruptible seed.” Nothing can take the place of the seed, not even prayer. Prayer may help the seed to grow, but it is not the seed: the Word of God is the seed.

David declared, “All His work is done in faithfulness” (Psa 33:4), that is, in faithfulness to His promises. The purpose of God’s promises is their fulfillment. They are all a revelation of what He is eager to do in and through us. The Holy Spirit, whose work it is to fulfill the promises, speaks of them as “exceeding great and precious” (2 Pet 1:4). Their greatness is seen in their inherent ability to empower us to meet all that God intends and designed for us to produce in this seed. Their immutability makes them “exceeding great and precious,” because it removes all reason for doubt and gives us a perfect foundation upon which to base our hope and expectations. The seed of God's Word can never change just as certain as God's Word is immutable (Isa 40:8); therefore, given the right condition and cultivation, the seed cannot fail to bring forth their intended results according to God's design. We can rest assured that God's Word can never return unto Him void even as He Himself said, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11)

In Romans 4:12, God speaks of Christians as those “who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,” meaning that we should all treat every promise God has made to us exactly as Abraham treated God’s promise to him. Can it be that God is less real to men of this Holy Spirit dispensation than He was to those who lived in the shadows of these “better things”? Certainly not!

The problem with many of us today as it was when Jesus said to some of the Jews in His day, “My Word has no place in you” (Jn 8:37). What place should the Word of God have in us? Can we truly answer that it has obtained and retained the highest priority in our thoughts, our conscience, our decisions, and our affections? God Himself esteemed His Word above all His Name as we're told in Psalms 138:2. How much more, it ought to obtain and retain in us a place of honor, reverence, faith, love, and obedience above all that we love and esteemed of great importance in our lives. And it ought to obtain and retain in us a place of utmost authority. Is the Word of God receiving the foremost preeminent esteem in our hearts and lives that it deserves or is it simply being neglected and the seed of God's Word being starved to death in our daily living?

Contained in the seed of God's Word lies infinite possibilities and potential. This is why it should be said of every one, as it was at the beginning, They gladly received the Word (Mk 12:37; Acts 2:41). Latent in the plainest text of God's Word is a world of blessing and potentiality, just as in a little seed there is a potential tree a million times bigger than the seed. One verse of the Scripture allowed to germinate in a human heart may grow into a harvest of thousands of transformed lives and the “eternal glory” which follows. One kernel of wheat can, in time, cover a continent and feed nations; and the results of cultivating and growing the “ incorruptible seed ” are as much greater and more desirable than the harvests of material seed as the heavens are higher than the earth. Only the “imperishable seed” can bring about imperishable results. The Bible says: “Whose seed was in itself, after his kind” (Gen 1:12).

Paul continued in 1 Corinthians chapter three: “I have planted, Apollos watered.” All the seed and all the plants in God’s garden need watering. The Lord Jesus said of one of the problems with the stony ground upon which the seed fell, “It lacked moisture” (Luke 8:6). Furthermore He said, the seed “had no root” (Matt 13:6). If the seed is to grow, the ground must be kept moist. It is because of the lack of constant watering that many of God’s plants are withering instead of growing. Paul said of the Thessalonians, “Your faith grows exceedingly” (2 Thes 1:3). God commanded all of us to “grow in grace.”

How do we water the seed of God's Word in us? Certainly one of the ways is to pray over God's Word and make it real and practical in our lives. Others say that it is to let the Spirit mingle with the Word for it to germinate. Thus, we need to be filled in Spirit. All that is correct, but I would like to point out that there is much more other practical ways by which we can water and nurture the seed of God's Word received into us. In fact, every one of the 176 verses of the 119th Psalm shows us both the Psalmist's attitude and how we ought to nurture and cultivate the Word of God: The Psalmist joyfully acknowledges his obligations to keep God’s precepts diligently. He commited himself to “... keep Thy statutes.” He said to God, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart. …I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. …I will meditate in Thy precepts. …Princes also did sit and speak against me; but Thy servant did meditate in Thy statutes…I will delight myself in Thy statutes. …I will not forget Thy Word. …I have kept Thy testimonies. …I have chosen the way of truth … I will run the way of Thy commandments…I shall observe it (Thy law) with my whole heart. …I delight myself in Thy commandments. …So shall I keep Thy law continually for ever and ever…I will speak of Thy testimonies…The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from Thy law…Thy statutes have been my songs. …Thou art my portion, O Lord. …I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments. …The proud have forged a lie against me: but I have kept Thy precepts with my whole heart.”

The Psalmist delighted in God's Word: “The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver…Thy law is my delight…For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven…Thy faithfulness is unto all generations…Unless Thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction…I will never forget Thy precepts…O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day…”

The Psalmist lived by God's Word, which kept him in righteousness: “How sweet are Thy Words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! …Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path…I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep Thy righteous judgments…Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart….I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes always, even unto the end…I hate vain thoughts; but Thy law do I love… I will have respect unto Thy statutes continually…”

The Psalmist's greatest esteem and deepest passion is for God's Word: “I love Thy Commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold….I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way…Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them…my heart standeth in awe of Thy Word…I rejoice at Thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil.” All of these statements, and many more in Psalm 119 shows us how to practically water and nurture God's Word in our lives for it to grow within us.

Finally, Paul said, “God giveth the increase/growth.” He made His promises for this one purpose. God never failed to perform His function of making the seed to grow when it is kept in good ground and well-watered. However, it is our responsibility to water the seed of God's Word. The growing only comes after the watering. The intensity of our holy desire to water and nurture God's Word is commensurate to the degree of our love for the Lord, because the Lord said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my Word” (Jn 14:23, 21). The growth comes spontaneously as we keep and water the God's Word, because God always fulfill all of His promise (Rom 4:21). In fact God’s desire is greater than ours in carrying out His promises contained in His Word, for they bring fruition to His eternal plan and fulfillment to His grand design. His delight to bring about the growth and the fulfillment to His promises is so great that His eyes “run to and fro throughout the whole earth” continually seeking opportunities for this very purpose. The righteousness and justice of God requires that He make the seed grow when it is “planted” and “watered.” The matter passes out of our hands into God’s hands when we simply water and nurture the implanted Word.

Lastly, I'd just like to point out the effect of David’s watering and nurturing God’s Word – he became “a man after God’s own heart.” The growth of God's Word in him was what perfected David to be such a man after God's own heart. It is the Word of God which Paul says, “effectually works in you who believe.” Speaking from experience, David also said in another of his psalms, Psalm 19:7, “The law of the Lord (synonymous with God's Word) is perfect, converting the soul...” By thus nurturing and watering the seed of God's Word received into us, we will be transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory, which is the fulfillment of God's design and purpose in this seed. Ultimately and corporately, we will then become the Church that God desires – that will be the consummate growth and result that He will bring forth by our faithful planting and watering of the seed of His Word that He has so graciously given to us.