Pregnant with the word

All of us have seen pregnant women at various times in our life. In the case of married women, we just naturally assume that the woman’s husband is the father of the child (and hopefully we’re right!) But sometimes we encounter unmarried women who are pregnant and one of the first questions that invariable comes up is, “who is the father?” It’s a natural question to ask, particularly when the mother is not married. But it also raises an interesting question in our own lives as Christians.

In Matthew 1:18 we are told that before Mary, who was not yet married to Joseph, was “found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.” This has to be one of the most amazing statements in the Bible. But beyond being a powerful display of God’s power in the birth Jesus as a man, this story also gives us insight into how God works to accomplish his purposes in the earth.

John 1:1 says that Jesus is “The Word” of God, who was “in the beginning with God.” And John 1:14 goes on to say that “The Word became flesh” – a reference to the birth of Jesus as a man. In other words, when Mary gave became pregnant with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, she wasn’t just pregnant with a boy she was pregnant with the Word of God.

God had been promising that Jesus would come ever since the garden of Eden when he told the serpent that the Eve’s “seed” would crush his head. Over the years God continued to promise the coming of the Messiah through many Old Testament prophecies. But what is so amazing about this is that when it finally came time to bring this promise to pass, the way God did it was by planting the seed of his word inside of Mary. What is even more amazing about this is that it is actually God’s plan for all of us.

Every time we “receive with meekness the implanted word” (James 1:21), which involves not only hearing but also believing the word of God, we too are “found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” just as Mary was. When the “seed” of God’s Word is planted in our hearts through the power of The Holy Spirit, it attaches itself to us and begins to grow just as a child grows in its mother’s womb. And just like natural childbirth, if this “seed” that was sown in us is allowed to grow to full maturity, it will produce the “fruit of the womb” in the form of whatever word or promise of God we have believed. This same process is fulfilled in us with each new promise or word of God that is sown in our hearts.

But just like with natural childbirth, we also have the choice of aborting this “child” that is growing within us. One way we can do this is through unbelief, which will result in the “death” of the promise in our hearts. We can also stunt the growth of the fruit of our spiritual “womb” by allowing “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” to “enter in” to our hearts and choke out the life of the Word of God within us. (See Mark 4:18-19)

It is also very important for us recognize that the Word of God is not the only “seed” we can become “pregnant” with. As spiritual “soil,” our hearts are designed to receive whatever seed we plant in them and cause that seed to grow to maturity. Because of this, it is imperative that we “consider carefully” what we listen to (Mark 4:24) or else we may be “found to be with child” by the world rather than by God.

If you are “with child” or pregnant with the Word of God today, Congratulations! If not, perhaps you need to spend some more time being intimate with the Word of God…