The Word of God

Good Morning,

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

What happens to you when you take the time to sit down and read the Bible? I ask myself that every once in a while so that I will take the time to think about why I'm reading and what I'm getting from my reading. I guess that each of us will get different things from our reading and study than someone else and even that each of us may garner different experiences from one day to the next in our own experience...even if we were to read the same section that we had previously read. In the not too distant past we discussed why reading the Bible is beneficial to us. Today's discussion is a bit different.

When I read this verse, one that I'm sure we're all familiar with and that we've all read many times, something else came into my mind. Yes, of course, God's Holy Bible IS, truly, alive and still active...even over the millennia. We agree that it is as sharp as any blade ever made and penetrates into our very being. It's the last thought in this verse which struck me this morning.

"It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Reading the Bible, at least for me, convicts me of those things that I've not done totally to the pleasure and approval of God. (Now, isn't THAT just a politically correct way of saying I've sinned??!!!??) The Bible does so much to help us to see where we are falling short of what God would want of us and from us. You see, if we didn't have this Book, how would we know and understand when we stray away from the life God wants us to live? Of course the Bible's primary importance, at least to me, is the fact that it gives us God's plan of salvation, shows His love. Certainly it is an instruction book of "do's and dont's" that we ought to incorporate into our lives. But, let's not dismiss that it is also one of the best ways in which we see and feels the error of our ways as we live each day.

The Bible is the place from which judgement ought to come. Not other human beings. Directly from God through His Word.

Just another reason why we need to be opening up our Bibles and reading what God has to say to us.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David