Series on Words

Words - Part Five

This is the final week in our WORDS series. So far, we’ve looked at words, original, ripples, and dynamite. The last word is seeds.

Words
Original
Ripples
Dynamite
Seeds

Seeds need to be Planted
We are all familiar with seeds and know they appear dry and dead as they lie in a packet. Words lying in a dictionary are much the same. It’s only as we form them into sentences, paragraphs and stories and plant them in people’s hearts and minds, that we see life. It is our choice whether those seeds are positive or negative.

Seeds need Warmth and Moisture
Written words need receptive minds and spirits to grow and take root. In Matthew 13:1-9, Jesus spoke about seeds being eaten by birds, and falling on rocky and thorny ground. He also spoke of seeds that fell on good soil, producing a hundred, sixty and thirty times what was sown. Some of our words will not have much effect but as we seek out readers who are open to our writing, our words will bear fruit.

Seeds take Time to Grow
Ecclesiastes 11:1,4 explains this in an easy to understand picture and also encourages us to keep sowing, even if conditions don’t look good.

1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

God watches over the words we write and will bring them to fruition in His time. Some may produce results quickly and others may take years.

Seeds Produce Flowers and Fruit
They can also produce weeds. Our aim should be to write words that will feed people’s minds and hearts and fill them with beauty. A seed is small and insignificant but over time, produces roots and stalks, flowers and fruit. The flowers are pleasant to look at and fruit sustains and energizes. The seeds we plant can be as simple as an encouraging word, a meaningful sentence, or a complete story or article. The important thing to remember is it takes time. If we start planting seeds today, we won’t have a field full of flowers and fruit tomorrow. It’s a process.

Original words, dynamite words, words making ripples, words growing as seeds in people’s lives. God has placed endless possibilities in our hands and we are privileged to write in His name. It doesn’t matter if it’s not for a Christian market. God can still use our words in amazing ways and bring hope and healing to a hurting world.

(Please leave a comment if you’d like to share how God has used your words to touch others – we’d love to hear from you)


Debbie Roome works as a freelance writer from her home in New Zealand. Read some of her work at Suite 101 , Take Root and Write and Faithwriters.