Many call themselves Christians, but do not take the word of Jesus as it is. They are reluctant to trust and believe in Jesus’ words and yet have the temerity to even call themselves believers. Needless to say, all believers should obey the Word of God, regardless of what they think or feel about it. King David candidly said, “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Ps. 119:89). Indeed, the Word of God is not subject to debate or analysis, but should be the object of our faith. God’s word is not inutile or idle. Through the prophet Isaiah, God himself said, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11). All we need in order to benefit from the Word is to believe.
For us to be convinced that the Word of the Lord is powerful, we need to read few incidents recorded in the Bible. On one occasion, a royal official whose son was very sick begged Jesus to go with him and heal his son. Rather than agreeing to go with him to where his son is, Jesus said, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, that was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his entire household believed (John 4:50-53). Jesus does not have to physically go to the sick to heal. His word is enough, if we believe.
In another instance, a centurion came to Jesus, asking for help since his servant was at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering. Unlike the previous case – where Jesus did not go to the royal official’s house to minister to the sick child – he decided to go the centurion’s house. However, the centurion restrained him, saying, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” For such a demonstration of faith, Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” His servant was healed at that very hour (Matt. 8:8-13). Indeed, Jesus only needs to say the Word and it will accomplish its purpose.
The reason why we do not receive as much blessings as we should is because of our unbelief. Even though we have received a very clear Word from the Lord, we negate it with our words or actions. This was demonstrated fully by Martha when her brother Lazarus died. While she confessed her faith in the Lord Jesus, saying, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask”, she actually did not believe that Jesus can raise the dead and that God will give her whatever she asked. When Jesus was shown where Lazarus was buried and then commanded that the stone cover be taken away, Martha protested, “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.” To this, Jesus responded, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” Having quieted Martha’s negativism, Jesus commanded, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:21-43). Lazarus, who had been buried four days, obeyed the Word of the Lord and came out of the tomb.
The word of the Lord is powerful if we let it do its work. If Martha did not finally believe, but kept arguing with the Lord, she would have not seen the glory of God. It is amazing how we tend to stop believing when the Lord is about to do a miracle, just because we cannot understand his ways. Martha could not believe that a man who was dead for four days could still be raised to life and she struggled with it. We should be like the royal official who took Jesus’ word and his child was healed, or the centurion who fully believed in the power of Jesus’ spoken word and his servant was healed. Let us not be like those who had been listening to Jesus but were not blessed, because “the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith” (Heb. 4:2). Therefore, let us take Jesus’ word as it is and believe. Hallelujah!Take His Word
