05Jul16

Hebrews 4:12 ESV
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.

When I was a kid I used to climb up into a tree and read in the high branches of it in my backyard. This was one of my favorite places to be. That was until one day the branch I sat on broke out from underneath me and stabbed me in the side as I fell to the ground. It hurt really bad. I had thought that the branch was just there to support me, to be my safety, and my hiding place. But, it turned out that it was also there to stab me in the side.

Sometimes the Word of God is like that. We want it to be happy, and gentle, and nice. In fact sometimes we just ignore the parts we don't like so that all it says is the good stuff. But, God designed his Word to pierce us as well. It has to. It hurts. But, if we ignore that major function of the Word of God then we also miss out on the blessing that comes from it as well. The Word is alive and active. It isn't just meant for us to read... it is meant to read us and apply to us. It's meant to bring us to our knees and lift us up to the heavens at the same time. What is God speaking to you through His Word today?