Some thoughts in scripture are too deep for me. For example, take this well known passage from Hebrews 4:12-13: “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.”
What does in mean that God’s word is alive and active? When we say the Bible is the living word, what exactly are we saying?
In one respect, maybe this refers to Jesus, who is the capital-w Word often referred to in the New Testament. But I think there’s more here; in some mysterious way God’s revelation in the Bible is more than old ink on inert pages. It is evergreen, showing new fruit every season.
That’s why during the first Persian Gulf war, when it looked like I was going to deploy, every passage in Dawn’s devotions seemed to be about war. It’s why scripture never fails to meet a need, even the ones that seem brand-new to our time (for example, what do you do when your spouse has PTSD, or child identifies as a different gender?).
That’s because, in the end, it isn’t possible to separate God’s capital-w Word from all the other words that were Spirit-breathed and preserved for us. They are both unfailing, ever accurate revelations of who God is, how we relate to him, and what he expects of us. Jesus perfectly lived out every syllable of God’s revelation; more than that, he made it all make sense.
That’s why it has the power to judge our thoughts and attitudes, to divide the parts of us still stuck in fleshly lust from the parts trying hard to live right.
It’s why we have to read it. Nothing else will get us right with God.
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