GOD'S SURGICAL WORD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever watched a butcher do their work?

It’s really fascinating because what we see in the meat section of the supermarket is typically just the finished product of the meat cutter’s labor.

For example, it’s not as if the meat you see packaged came to the store that way. Rather, the store received a beef or pork carcass and then went about cutting it up into the items we get to select. This involves very sharp knives that are used to trim away lots of unwanted fat before slicing meat up into sections like steaks or roasts. Using the properly sharpened cutting device, a butcher can easily make quick work of the meat which is unable to offer up much resistance.

Why lead with this as we pivot to talk about the Word of God?

Because as we see, the writer of Hebrews likens the scriptures to a razor sharp sword that can slay even the most stubborn sin within a person. Look again at his words here:

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

In this verse, we’re reminded that every word we read of the Bible “is alive and active”. As Timothy puts it, the scriptures are “God breathed” and “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” as they ensure that a “servant of God” might be “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

That preparation of a Christian believer to properly carry out the will and way of the Lord is not one requiring no work. Rather, the active and alive Word of God first needs to slice through the Jesus disciple like a “double-edged sword”, dividing “soul and spirit” as well as “joints and marrow” so to get to the place where the thoughts and attitudes of the heart might be judged.

Perhaps you have experienced this before. I know I have.

For there have been times, past and present, when I have read from the Bible and found myself being surgically probed by the Lord, exposing places in my heart that need changed. This surgical probing leads to conviction so to rebuke and correct me as I am taught and trained more and more how to be the righteous person God wants me to be, a righteous person who is more and more like His Son Jesus.

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, he urges them to put on the full armor of God which includes the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). For many years, I read this verse in the context of protecting me from external attacks from Satan but as I have grown in my understanding, I now see the sword of the Spirit protecting me from myself and my sinful nature as well. In other words, the sharp “double-edged sword” of the Spirit (aka God’s Word) cannot just provide self defense but defense from self.

Friends, we don’t have a more valuable active and alive Word in our lives outside of the holy, God-breathed scriptures, scriptures that surgically penetrate to our hearts to expose our thoughts and attitudes so that the Lord can reform and transform us to be the people He wants us to be, a people obedient to Him in every way so we can bring the Gospel to others and make a Kingdom difference here on earth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.