Thoughts for the Day

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We looked at Jesus as our great High Priest a few days ago, and today we look at what the writer of Hebrews means by the phrase 'the word of God'. We know that in our bible when a word is spoken it has an active life, and here we understand that God's word sees us laid bare as it were. It can divide our 'soul and spirit'. For a Greek this would mean our life-force (or we might say our physical body) and our spirit (that is our thinking and mental processes).

But if this feels negative, we should not be afraid, because of the work of Jesus, we are offered hope! For the word of God as it meets us through the Holy Spirit begins to work in us and brings us great benefits:

Some of these positives are:

• God's word heals and cleans us (John 15.3).
• It helps to stop us committing sin (Psalm 119.11).
• When we hear and understand God's word it will start to bear fruit in our life (Matthew 13.23).
• Hearing God's word strengthens our faith (Romans 10.17).

Our task is to allow God's word to begin, and then continue to work in us.

Lord God Almighty,
help us to be open to Your word,
to heal and clean us,
that we may continue to grow in faith,
and begin to bear healthy fruit.
Teach us to welcome You in our life,
knowing that we may trust You
to know what is best for us.
Amen.