For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
—1 CORINTHIANS 3:9
IN THIS VERSE, “ye are God’s husbandry” is a little blind to us. Moffatt’s translation says, “You are God’s field to be planted.” Another translation says, “You are God’s garden.” God wants us to bring forth abundant fruit to His glory! He never intended for us to suffer lack, sickness, or disease. He’s given us a full supply by furnishing us with His imperishable seed—His Word—to plant in the garden of our hearts and lives.
Because you are God’s husbandry, “Ye are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19). Why? Verse 20 tells us: “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” You are not your own because a field or garden belongs to its owner—it doesn’t belong to itself. God holds the title deed to you!
God purchased us with the blood of His own dear Son so that we could be His garden. Therefore, every human being needs to know that he or she has been bought with a price to be God’s very own.
- When we are born again, we become a part of God’s garden in which His imperishable seed, His Word, is to grow. God created us to produce abundant results in our lives—a supernatural harvest. In order to yield a crop like this, we, like a garden, must be planted, tilled, and cultivated.
The Incorruptible Seed
God is the husbandman—He gives us the seed. But we work in cooperation with Him to plant that seed in our hearts and lives.
1 PETER 1:23
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, BUT OF INCORRUPTIBLE [seed], by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
According to this verse, the Word of God is incorruptible seed. That means the seed of God’s Word is imperishable,
- eternal, and undecaying. It will not fade away, weaken, or become obsolete.
How highly you esteem the seed of God’s Word will determine the spiritual harvest you receive. If you place little or no value on the Word, you won’t take the necessary time to plant it in your heart and cultivate it. But if you value God’s Word greatly, you will put it first place in your life.
Jesus said to some of the Jewish religious leaders of His day, “My word hath no place in you” (John 8:37). Evidently, they didn’t value what Jesus had to say to them. They didn’t have ears to hear the Word that was preached, and it didn’t benefit them.
We need to ask ourselves, “What value does the Word of God have in my heart?” Have you taken time to cultivate the imperishable seed? Have you watered that seed by praying, meditating, and speaking His Word in faith?
It’s taking God at His Word, believing that Word, and declaring His Word. That’s our part and our responsibility as believers.Kenneth E. Hagin
A Place of Honor
God’s Word ought to occupy a place of honor in the heart and mind of every believer. His Word should have the place of final authority. When the Word has first place in your life, you are only half a step away from your harvest—no matter what harvest you need.
The seed of God’s Word contains all the exceedingly great and precious promises God has given to us. We should honor the Word. God Himself gives His Word a place of preeminence. Psalm 138:2 says, “Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Jesus also gave His Word preeminence when He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). God’s Word is a sure foundation!
One way we receive the promises of God is to stand on His Word. Standing on the Word means appropriating the blessing each promise declares. It’s taking God at His Word, believing that Word, and declaring His Word. That’s our part and our responsibility as believers.
If we neglect to cultivate the seed by standing on God’s promises, we will hinder their fulfillment in our lives. Many Christians never claim God’s exceedingly great and precious promises because they are not precious to them.
God has given us His holy written Word to unveil to us the living Word—the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s Word ought to have the same place in our hearts that Jesus does.
My Answer Was in the Bible
Years ago when I lay dying on the bed of sickness as a teenager, the doctors said they couldn’t help me—I had to die. But something on the inside of me, just an inward intuition, told me there was help for me. That inward intuition told me that my answer was in the Bible.
I didn’t take time for anything else except reading the Bible, because according to medical science I didn’t have much time. I didn’t read or even think about anything else besides the Word.
God’s Word is what brought me healing and health! How I reverenced that Word! I even slept with the Bible. When I was paralyzed, I used a small New Testament, and I slept with it under my pillow. When I could finally hold a big Bible, I’d sleep with it folded in my arms.
I kept planting the seed of God’s Word in my heart. I kept watering it, and eventually it brought forth great results—I stood beside my bed healed and whole.
God’s Word will bring forth fruit anytime it is planted in a believer’s heart. But if that believer doesn’t plant and water the seed, it won’t produce a harvest. It’s that simple.
What do you need from God? Find scriptures in His Word that promise you what you need. Then plant that seed from His Word in your heart, and water it by continually thinking and meditating upon it.
When God’s Word becomes precious seed to you, then you’ll reap a bountiful harvest of His blessings, and His promises will be fulfilled in your life.
[Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from Kenneth E. Hagin’s You Are God’s Garden Series audio teaching.]Author
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Kenneth E. Hagin
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