Hebrews 4:12

By Kelvin Kay [Public domain, GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)],
via Wikimedia Commons

I have had several occasions to visit the National Archives in Washington D.C. to view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights documents. If you've been there too, or seen one of my favorite movies, National Treasure, you know the security measures that are in place to protect these documents not just from theft, but from minuscule pollutants in the surrounding atmosphere. 

As Americans we believe that these documents written just over 200 years ago maintain some sort of authority over our lives. They spell out why we exist as a country. They define our freedoms and our rights. And as such, every law that exists in our country, every decision our Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government, whether or not we agree with them, is fundamentally tied to these documents. Men and women fight and die to keep the freedoms and rights these documents provide. In essence, these documents are very much a part of how we live out our lives within the borders of this country.

For the word of God is living and active.

The author of Hebrews reminds us that God's Word is living and active. If we place such high esteem on the Declaration of Independence, how much more should we esteem the Holy Scriptures? 

God's Word does not need security measures placed on it to be protected - by its very nature, it protects itself. It cannot be stolen and held for ransom. It's message will never fade. It's contents will never become irrelevant. 

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.

When the Words of God are read and spoken, both our natural world and spiritual realms are changed. Our hearts and minds are transformed. The words of Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 uphold what is written here in Hebrews:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

Testimonies have been given countless times since mankind was created and the Word of God recorded of how powerful and life-changing Scripture is. I realize that I've shared part of what you're about to read just recently in another blog post but I'll go into more detail here.

Several years ago, I was going through a period of great anxiety due to experiencing lots of losses over a two year span. Some losses were greater than others, but one in particular, the death of a friend from cancer, really messed with my mind. My thoughts constantly centered around my own health and I became convinced of my own eventual decline and demise. My physical body even began to be affected with this type of thinking. 

If that weren't bad enough, one Saturday morning I woke to a message that felt like it was whispered into my ear, "You're going to die." When I became fully awake I KNEW that I was under a serious spiritual attack. I KNEW that what I felt like I heard was a big, fat lie. I KNEW that the only way to fight back was with Scripture. And so I read my Bible. Reading it silently was not sufficient. My circumstances demanded that my reading be aloud. My circumstances demanded that I read and read and read for most of the day. Whenever I stopped reading, those nasty, ugly lies started to swirl around in my mind. 

I reached out to several friends to let them know that I was dealing with something huge and to start praying, but it was the power of God's Word that got me through that hideous day. 

While I did seek medical counsel and was diagnosed and treated for the grief I was experiencing, nothing but the penetrating double-edged Sword of the Spirit was able to help me make a break-through with my negative thought patterns and provide me with words of Truth to live by. 

This is why, to me, memorizing Scripture is so important. It's life-giving! Anytime I need God's Word, it's with me so that I can be filled up. 

I know that many who are reading this have your own story to tell about the power of the Word of God. How your life has been changed because what is written in between, "In the beginning..." (Genesis 1:1) and "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen" (Revelation 22:21). 

But if you are reading this and have yet to experience and come to believe for yourself that God's Word is living and active, I ask that you reconsider any doubts or disbeliefs that you may hold and read it for yourself. Ask questions. Open your heart to the possibility of being made a new creation. God longs to meet with you. God's greatest desire is for you to seek Him out. In response, He will answer. He will get to you faster than you can get to Him. 

God and His Word is alive!