“My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will” (Isaiah 55:11). With these words the prophet Isaiah tells us a truth about God, and gives us a prophecy concerning the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who would come among us in the flesh and return to the Father having done his will, perfectly.

In just two verses Isaiah teaches us about the nature of God and his love for his creation. “Thus says the Lord: Just as rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth: It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it” (verses 10-11). We see the Word of God in action in Genesis 1. “God said, ‘Let there be light…’” (verse 3). It is through His Word that all things come to be, then and now. The Apostle John deepens this knowledge for us, making it more personal and tangible with absolute directness at the opening of his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….” (verse 1).

The Word of God has brought fertility and fruitfulness into all of creation from the beginning to this moment. As we approach the coming of Spring, we await the flowering and the new growth of nature all around us. The rain and the snows of winter will bring forth that fruitfulness. Farmers have last year’s seeds to put into the soil, and the spring rains will water them and they will grow into fruitfulness. And we will eat. The evidence of God’s word is around us at all times, but we are especially aware of it in nature at the springtime of the year.

More pointedly, Jesus is the Word of God. He is the word through which all things came to be. He is the Word that has come to us from the Father’s mouth, the Word that was incarnated in human flesh, the Word that did the Father’s will, achieving the end for which he had been sent. In Jesus we have seen what the will of God looks like. In him we have encountered the unconditional loving, merciful, and forgiving nature of God. He has planted that word into us through our baptisms, and like the seed that has been planted into the soil, we are watered by that Word in our faith life. It becomes the nutrients of our faith. It is our faith in action, in imitation of Jesus, that is the fruit of God’s Word in the world today. Jesus, the Word of God, achieved the end for which he was sent. Now we are to do the same. We are to receive the word within our souls, our hearts, and our minds. We are to nurture that Word through prayer, reading the scriptures, keeping holy the sabbath, and remembering, reflecting upon, and practicing the commandments. For we, now, are sent by God to achieve the end for which we have been sent. We are to love one another as Jesus, the Word of God, loved us.

Lord, Help us to open ourselves to receive your Word into our hearts more each day. Give us hearts that will become fruitful in faith, in word, and in deed, according to the end for which you have sent each of us to achieve. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

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