Soaked and saturated with the Word of God

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 55:10-13 (KJV)

Oh, for hearers who drink in the Word of the Lord! O rain from heaven, would God that you did always find us like plowed fields ready to drink you in! This is how grace works; it enters the soul, penetrates the heart, saturates the conscience, abides in the memory, affects the affections, gives understanding to the understanding and imparts real life to the heart; which is the seat of life! I wish that we always heard the gospel in that fashion, but hearing is often mere child’s play. If it were true hearing, it would be the most serious work under heaven and it would be done in a reverential manner as a true part of divine worship! Then we should find the Word of God soaking into men’s hearts as the snow and the rain from heaven enter the earth...

 O beloved, if the Word of God has been to you like an uncomfortable shower, may it afterwards prove its living power, making you feel a new life that you never felt before, a something within, struggling, striving, a something which, of itself, was not previously there, but which comes with the heavenly Word and is, indeed, the sure evidence of the beginning of the new life within your soul! 

And, again, the Word of God, when it comes into the soul and abides there, works in the man whatever God pleases; all His divine purposes; “it shall accomplish that which I please and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” It is a very wonderful thing to get the Word of God thoroughly into your soul, to get soaked and saturated with it. We have, none of us, any idea what that Word may yet do for us. Who among us knows the infinite reaches of the divine purpose? Who shall cast the lead and fathom all the divine intentions concerning man? Verily, “it does not yet appear what we shall be,” but when the Word of God is truly in us, it will work whatever the divine purpose is and carry it out to the fullest without fail, for the Word of God is living and powerful to effect the designs and purposes of the Most High! 

My beloved hearers, open your hearts to this Word; drink it in; do not stay its course, do not try to hinder its divine operations. Pray to be completely under its influence, for you do not know how holy, how strong, how happy, how heavenly you may yet be! This, then, is how our spiritual springtime comes to us; first, showers under which we tremble and are troubled, but, afterwards, a divine abiding which produces marvelous effects in our hearts and lives!

Springtime in Nature and Grace, Sermon 2410, C.H. Spurgeon, May 1, 1887.