Journal Entry ~ 12/28/18

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

Sharper than a two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit. The author here draws an analogy of a sword sharp enough to cut through bones and joints to the marrow. The bones are the hard outer part that a duller knife struggles to cut through, the marrow is the soft inner part. 

A double edged sword, sharp on both sides, is sharp enough to cut through our hard outer shell of existence, and reveal to us our inner spirit. Our soul is that invisible part of our being that we are by nature, the Spirit is that which we are by God. So the Word of God cuts through our self and our spirit, revealing to us our true heart.  Are our thoughts and intentions spiritual thoughts or are they natural thoughts?  The word of God can reveal to us where our thoughts and intentions are of the world, and not of Him. 

Remembering yesterday’s devotion, the author is not only referring to the written Word of God in this passage, but they are also referring to the spoken Word of God.  When our sisters and brothers in Christ speak the Word of God to us, He can use the Word to cut through soul and Spirit. In other words, sometimes being confronted by the Word in a preaching or in quiet conversation with a friend can cut us to the core. 

Being pierced by a two edged sword can hurt, just as being confronted by a friend with the Word of God can be painful. It's hard to hear the Truth sometimes, and our souls have a tendency to rise up and defend ourselves. When our Spirit and soul are divided by that two edged sword, we have a choice in how we respond - we can let the Spirit win, or we can let the soul win. 

I've been in a situation where my soul of pride won for awhile, and caused some bitter resentment of the person who confronted me because I thought they were wrong. It's not a good place to be. Relationships were damaged and there was a heaviness in my heart for a long time over it. But this person was confronting me with a blind spot - something I did not see in myself. 

We need to be careful when we are confronted with the Word by a friend. It can be so easy to jump up in defense or to silently stew in anger, but we must remember the power with which the Word of God is delivered. He is very present when His Word is spoken, He assures it is delivered with Truth. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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