Are you open to the Word of God in your life?
In our readings this Sunday, the prophet Isaiah uses a beautiful image to embody the
Word of God, namely, water sent from the heavens:
rain and snow that make the
earth fertile and fruitful, giving seed
to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats. God’s Word thus comes to us gently and is
meant to permeate all creation, nourishing us if we are open to it, making
things happen in our world, and in us, and thus achieving the end for which God sent
it – an embodiment of God’s faithfulness to covenant. Psalm 65 reinforces
this imagery with the portrait of a generous God who has tilled the earth,
filling it with blessings: Thus have you prepared the land, drenching
its furrows, […] softening it with
showers, blessing its yield.
Yet remember: God’s
Word is not 'just' Scripture, but also Jesus himself, the Word made flesh who was present at creation and continues to
engage us and dwell within us today. So
when, in the parables of Matthew this week, we hear about a sower sowing seed,
that seed needs God’s word to thrive, the word that is Jesus
himself, the word of the kingdom whom
we, as Christians, are called to hear. Paul
reminds the Romans that they have all received the firstfruits of the Spirit; they have all been redeemed, and
that redemption entails a responsibility. You must strive to be good seed, Jesus
tells his disciples, sown on rich soil and nourished by the love that is
Jesus himself, Jesus, the Word of God.
It is, at heart, a question of challenging ourselves to faith, making
an effort to hear the word and understand
it, remaining open to it, daily, so that we can be bountiful, bearing good fruit, a harvest that gives glory to God, spreading
his Word, giving birth to the joy set
forth in the psalm, a joy that will be complete with our full adoption in glory.
This post is based on the Thursday Scripture class.
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