Like a Sword

“The Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword...” Hebrews 4:12

How can words on a page be alive and full of power? That is exactly what the author of the letter to the Hebrews says. He tells us that it is powerful, from the Greek word, ‘dunamis’, which is all about a force that affects everything in its path, it has a transforming potential. 

I quote Proverbs 4:20-22 a lot. Here we learn that it is important to attend to God’s words; incline our ear to His sayings. “Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” I can testify to how true that is, that God’s Word is medicine to me, and to many other people. My doctor said I would have to take Warfarin for the rest of my life, and I would have to wear compression stockings for my Deep Vein Thrombosis. After confessing God’s healing verses for a couple of years, taking God’s Word as my medicine, my toes turned blue from the compression stockings, and I had to stop wearing them! 

Hebrews 4:12 also says that God’s Word is sharper than any two-edged sword, it can pierce and penetrate “even to dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Sounds painful. I can understand why many people do not like to read the Bible! When we read God’s Word thoroughly and earnestly, it exposes the deepest parts of our nature, it shows us the thoughts and purposes of our heart. We see how empty our hands are before God and how much we need Him. 

By nature, man wants to be self-sufficient, in control of his destiny. We want to do things our way, in our time. When we read God’s Word, we are stripped naked of our pretenses, and we see ourselves as we really are before a compassionate, gracious, and generous God. To me, that is authentic freedom, knowing the truth of who I am, and who God is, and what He wants to do through me. 

The prophet Jeremiah wrote: “Is not My word like fire, declares the LORD,  and like a hammer that breaks the rock into pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29) 

Lord, may the words I speak line up with Your Word. May I use Your Word like a tool to break down barriers, to make the impossible possible. Yes Lord, refresh me every day with Your Word!