Made To Cut

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. [Hebrews 4.12-13]

I know I say some things here that are not always popular. In fact, some of the things I have suggested here in my daily posts carry a lot of indictment upon us all. This is not good if only my opinions are expressed here. However, if I declare God's Word  and it hurts, then there should be no surprise. Why?

Because:

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. [Hebrews 4.12-13]

God's Word is designed to cut. Why? Because deception encases us in a tough cloak of darkness and misinformation. By design this cloak is durable and sturdy - its purpose is to last at least a lifetime and that is precisely why God's Word is necessarily alive and powerful - sharp and specific - in order to effectively expose what lies within!

Consider these statements found just before Hebrews 4.12-13:

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.” [Hebrews 3.12-15]

The author of Hebrews felt this deception (defined by me here as a cloak of darkness and misinformation) was dangerous enough to require daily warning against it. So, I make no apology for heralding that warning - we must allow God's Word to 'cut through' and bring light to every dark situation. We simply must understand that "deception" is the world's default setting! It is not enough to think our salvation and ministry on earth is a one-and-done situation! The sword of God's Word must be wielded daily, regularly, and faithfully to cut away the incessant malignancy of our deceptive hearts that ever strives to entomb us in deception.

If Christianity were meant to be a bed of roses, we would not be warned with such militaristic terms as, "the armor of God," or "two-edged sword," or "fighting the good fight." These terms and others are used to cause us to understand that we are engaged in a conflict! "Doing nothing" is not an option for a true believer.

If God's Word is not cutting something, we are not using it properly. Think about that.

Father, may Your Word cut away the cloak of hard deception that persists to not only to insulate, but to isolate me from the Kingdom I am born into and subsequently am to represent on earth. May I handle Your Word as a sword cutting away the hard deception upon myself and those around me.