The Word Did It All

Do you truly believe and stand on the truth that the Scriptures are the all-sufficient, authoritative, soul-transforming power of God to do it all? If I’m honest, I don’t always. Though I love the Word of God as more precious than gold and sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:10), and I believe it to be sharper than a sword in its power to pierce the heart of man (Hebrews 4:12), I still fall into the trap of thinking that it needs my help. I know God’s design is for heralds to proclaim it, for how else will people hear if nobody speaks it (Romans 10:14). Yet how easy it is within the clear framework of the Word to elevate man’s role, and in so doing, diminish the unadulterated power of the Word to do it all. In fact, that’s one of Martin Luther’s greatest quotes. “Take me, for example. I opposed indulgences and all papists, but never by force. I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word: otherwise, I did nothing. And then, while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip of Amsdorf the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing: the Word did it all.” His words echo the word of Scripture in Mark 4:27, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” Man sows and sleeps … God does it all. The Word does it all! What ought this produce in us other than the absolute confidence that the more we give ourselves to the Word in our own lives, the more God will use it to accomplish His purposes in and through us. May the Word of God be our feast, our light, our delight … and may it do the work of transformation our hearts long for!