The Sword of the Spirit

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in rigteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

We have an ongoing series at church about the Word. What makes this compilation of 66 books any different than any other book? Our pastor made an interesting comment that I have been thinking about over the last couple of weeks. He said, "we sit down to read and disect this piece of literature only to find that soon we are the ones being read and disected." "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

I think that these passages are very familiar to a lot of Christians, myself included. But what our pastor talked about this Sunday convicted my heart. He claimed that there are dangers in reading the Word if it is not read "spiritually".

We can atomize it - break it down into parts and lose the big picture. Gleen only what you want and throw the rest away. We see this a lot today in the wishy washy theology being taught. (I'm okay, you're okay)

We can privatize it - taking it as a series of inspirational thoughts and use it to get a "buzz on". In this case it becomes a commodity. It is all about me-me-me.

We can exclusivise it - put it on a pedestal under a glass case and never read it, or allow it to mold us.

We can systematize it - using it as a tool to come up with doctrines and arguments to prove ourselves.

In reality the Scriptures are over us - we are not to be master over them. We are to allow them to mold and change our hearts. We can know an aweful lot in our head without ever allowing the Bible to transform us. We must "spriritually" read it as Samuel the prophet exemplified, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening." The important question to ask while reading is not "what does it say?", but rather, "How do I obey?" "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

My brother posted a blog once about all the Christian literature there is out there. He said we shouldn't have a problem in the world with all the self-help books out there. Then why do we? I say that it's quite possible that we are not reading the Book of Books. We're too busy reading the next on the bestseller list. We want easy - let the pastor read it and explain it to me. And when we finally pick up and dust off our Bible, we are not reading it in the right way. This Book is powerful and must be wielded with respect to its power. It is the only book that can be used as a weapon - it is called the "Sword of the Spirit" in Ephesians 6:17 It must be read under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. It is the Word that helps us in battle - it is our only offensive weapon. Interesting that it is the Word that Satan attacked in the garden, "Did God really say....?"