The Word of God – Hebrews 4:12-13

The Word Is Alive

12 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. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Alive and Active

The word of God is not just some words that are written down, or passed orally on from generation to generation.  They are alive and active.  The Bible says that God’s word does not go void – it will accomplish the purpose that God intended it to accomplish.  Each and every word in the Bible has the power to change lives.  It patiently waits until the soul that reads it is prepared to receive its message.  It then delivers the most powerful of messages – the message that God intended for that person.  It renews our minds and guides our thoughts.

Sharper than Swords

The Bible says that the word of God is sharper than any sword.  A sword is effective because it is a power-concentrating device.  When sharpened, a sword will deliver all of the power of the swing or stab either onto a very sharp point or edge.  This delivers a significant amount of force where the edge or tip lands, so that a swing of the sword is like bringing tens of thousands of pounds per square inch of force onto the object it strikes. This will cause the object to cut or break apart.  In our case, the word of God is able to cut deep into our hearts, and expose our thoughts and attitudes.

Powerful Penetration

Because of the precision of the truth, it penetrates deep into our thoughts and attitudes.  God’s word exposes the deepest, innermost parts of our minds and hearts, and lays them bare for us to see.  The truth is able to shed light on these things, and to expose the darkness within us, as well as show the way to repentance.

Just Judgment

Because the word is true, it is able to rightly judge our thoughts and attitudes.  It provides the necessary tools to indicate our current state of mind, as well as our intents.  God is the perfect judge, for He sees the end from the beginning, and nothing is withheld from Him.  His word is accurate, and is able to rightly judge us.

Details on Display

Because God is omnipresent, His word is an accurate representation of this aspect of His character.   Nothing in all creation will be withheld from His sight.  Try as we might, we cannot hide in the darkness, for darkness is as light to Him who created the universe.  The word puts our thoughts on display for Him and for us should we choose to accept God’s sovereignty.  Even if we don’t, at the appointed time, all will be displayed by God, who will reward for what was done in the flesh, both good and evil.

Announce your Account

And everyone shall be required to give an accounting of what they have done.  This is evident by the account in Job where the angels were gathered to give an accounting of their actions before God.  No one will be spared this.  We can either give an account with the blood of Christ as our protection, or be in front of the White Throne seat of judgment.  The choice is ours.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question:  Are we allowing God’s word to penetrate our heart?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name.  Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, here on Earth as is in Heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread for tomorrow.  Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For You are holy, perfect without blemish, and You see everything correctly.  You know what was, what is, and what will be, for You have already seen it.  Father, help me that I may allow Your word to penetrate deep into my heart, that all darkness and evil will be exposed, that I may bring it before You to be healed.  Give me the strength and ability to overcome the flesh, the devil, and the world, that Your kingdom may be established in my heart.  Help me to be content with what You provide, for You have given me all that I need.  This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more?  Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

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