The Sword

Daily Gratitude Year 4- Day 246: Today, I am grateful for a new perspective on a sword and it's use. 

Swords keep popping up here and there. A Revolutionary War sword was a book I was reading and then a few more places. I've been tuned into swords the past few days.

Then, I stumbled on this little quote from Lisa Bevere. It is from her book "Girls With Swords". It asks a powerful question and slices open a new perspective on Bible Study. 

"What if we stopped working so hard to study the word and lived it instead?  I believe it is time that the church is known for its skill with swords, and it takes much more finesse to heal with a sword than to injure with one."

At the heart of our Bible study, are we studying to know more or to live better? Do we seek superior knowledge of God's Word... or do we seek to be transformed that His Word might bring hope, healing and salvation? 

The Bible is called the "sword of truth" or the "sword of the spirit". 

" 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 

I love to study the Bible. I love to chew on God's word in community with friends and family. I get pumped up when a new light comes on when studying a familiar scripture. I don't always love the conviction... but that it is exactly why we should study. Not to stand in self-righteous judgement and condemnation of others, but to transform our own lives and hearts so that we can present them to our Lord for his purpose. 

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." -Romans 12:1

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." -2 Timothy 2:15

"...it takes much more finesse to heal with a sword than to injure with one."

We are instructed to do our best. We must study to know. We must take what we know and go. Then, we can do the right thing based on what we have learned. Not perfect...but shameless. I like that thought. 

Live The Word. Share The Word. Show healing through and in The Word. Then, let the Holy Spirit do His work. We are his agents, but He is the one who knocks on the door of the heart in need of healing. 

Knowing the word of God is wonderful. We are instructed to know it and study it. Still, it is in living the word of God where salt and light plant the seeds of new life. To continue the analogy...a sword can open a row in the soil for the seeds to be planted, watered and nurtured. Still, only God can open that seed and grow it to new life. The sword was and is a tool in the process...but only He can bring new life.  

Today, I am grateful for a new perspective on a sword and it's use.