“Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James1:21-22,25, NKJV).
Your rootedness in the word of God will determine your reach in the affairs of His kingdom. Therefore, an important rule of engagement for the believers who desire to serve God creditably is to ensure that their lives and beliefs are grounded in the revealed word of God. Anything outside of this will amount to nothing but mere sham. James outlined the process of implanting the word of God in our hearts. Just like the farmer prepares the soil for seeding, the first step is to free our heart of all the negative clutters that has accumulated there over time. To this end he directs, “lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness.” Filthiness and overflow of wickedness constitute the thorns and briers in the heart that would stifle the word of God and render it ineffective in the life of the believer. Filthiness would encompass every defiling thought or actions, that make mockery of the glory of God. It would include wrong ambitions, especially in engaging the gospel ministry. Those who see the ministry as a means to wealth, fame and other worldly considerations should repent of those if they must serve God acceptably. Wickedness refers to every unloving attitude or action towards others. Those who hate their fellow human beings for whatever reason have jaundiced hearts that are not fitted for the service of God. In the Parable of the Sower, our Lord highlighted “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,” as major deterrents to the effect of the word of God in people. Heart-rooted love for God and people is the best motivation for serving God.
Being rooted in His word is a guarantee to answered prayers, to fruitfulness and to good success.
The second step after clearing the heart is to implant the word of God in the heart. the word “implant” in this context, means to imbed or ingraft something into one’s nature or character. Here, James is talking about having the word of God implanted in one’s heart. It’s like a seed being planted, which then takes root and grows. So, in essence, James is saying that God’s word has the power to transform us from the inside out when we receive it and allow it to take root in our hearts. Paul emphasised the importance of being rooted in Christ: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7). The way we get rooted and built up in Christ is to stay strong in the word of God and letting it guide our decisions in life. To this end Pauls ordered, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). The clear implication of this injunction is that we must allow the word of God to supply the raw material for our thoughts, the vocabulary for our language, and the melody of our songs and music. In a word, our lives and activities are meant to be ordered by the word of God. Our rootedness in the word of God sets the benchmark for our fruitfulness in His service.
Our Lord explained, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:5,7). Jesus is the incarnate word of God (John 1:1,14). He is the word of God made flesh. The only way we can truly abide in Him is by becoming unreservedly committed to His word as recorded in the Bible. Moses explained to Joshua how to abide in the word of God saying, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8). The Bible clearly affirmed that being rooted in His word is a guarantee to answered prayers, to fruitfulness and to good success. Bear in mind that only the doers of the word of God will be blessed. Let’s get into the word and stay there until God shows up on our side in Jesus name.
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