This is the second in a series of blogs on The Word of God as a part of the Armor of God.
In Hebrews 4:12-13 we are told, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” Since the word of God is our sword, like good soldiers, we should embrace it and learn techniques for using it in ways that honor God; rather than to exalt our self.
Over the many years since I was saved, I have been studying the Bible as well as many Christian books and resources. I listened to pastors teach on Bible passages in their sermons. I learned from Sunday school teachers and I taught Sunday school lessons. I learned from teachers in home Bible study groups and I led home Bible study groups. Also, I have been memorizing Bible passages. As a result, I am continually exposed to the Bible and many of the truths within it.
I am not saying this to prove to you that I am special. Instead, I want to use this to illustrate one of the many lessons in humility that I have learned while on my own journey. And when I say “lessons in humility” I’m not talking about learning what humility is. I’m talking about being truly humbled before the Lord and others.
You see, I felt pretty good about my knowledge of the Bible. After all, I had studied many passages in the Bible. Even though I had not read every passage in the Bible, I became comfortable with what I knew. I thought it was good enough since I had read all the “important” passages in the Bible. But then one day someone asked me, “Have you ever read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation?” My answer was, “No, I haven’t.” This person didn’t press me on my answer, but his response caught me off guard. He simply replied, “Oh, too bad.” As I thought about it, I began to rationalize in my mind that his question was stupid and irrelevant. And the more I thought about it I convinced myself that his reaction was also arrogant. After all, I had read the Bible; at least the important parts. What difference does it make if I didn’t do it in the sequence from Genesis to Revelation? The more I thought about it the more I tried to convince myself that it didn’t matter.
But it did matter. To make a long story short, the Lord eventually showed me that I was being stubborn about it. More importantly, the Lord showed me that I had lost my enthusiasm for the word of God. Weeks and sometimes even months would go by between the times when I even opened the Bible to read it on my own. I realized that I had been focused on various Bible topics and not on the story of the Bible. I was focused on Bible facts and not on the main character Jesus Christ. After I had studied the same Bible topics and facts many times, I found myself less interested in going to a Bible study group meeting to discuss a topic that I had already learned. I also found myself distracted during sermons where the pastor spoke about some topic or fact that I already knew.
Needless to say, the Lord was not satisfied with my attitude. In retrospect I could see how the Lord brought several people into my life over a period of time. Each made subtle comments about the immense enjoyment they received by reading through the Bible. Initially I just ignored their comments. But eventually the Holy Spirit broke through my stubborn attitude when someone again challenged me to read the Bible cover to cover. This time the Lord’s servant approached it differently by asking me how I would feel if I took the time to write a novel for others to enjoy and they just went to the last chapter or just read a chapter in the middle, or just read the verses or parts that others told them were important to read. How would that make me feel? I had to admit it wouldn’t make me feel very good. I would be especially upset if I had organized it a certain way to lead and inspire the reader, and I knew that the reader would miss some important points if they didn’t read my novel cover to cover.
Well, why hadn’t I thought of that before? Who shotguns a novel anyway? Boy was I dense, and I spent a lot of time in the wilderness because of it!
So, I started reading the Bible cover to cover. In fact, now that I was receptive to this idea, I even tried to improve upon it. So now I try to read every day; one chapter in the Old Testament, one chapter in the New Testament, and one chapter in Proverbs (reading through Proverbs every month was our pastor’s idea). I don’t make it every day, but when I miss, I just pick up the plan the next day.
What did I find out? Not only is it the word of God, the Bible is also a great story! The Lord is helping me to see things that I hadn’t seen before. It always amazes me that I learn something new each time I read through the same book again. How foolish I was to think that I could decide which passages were important and which were not.
My enthusiasm returned, and I now enjoy learning from the word of God daily. In fact, for the first time in a long time I’m actually experiencing the word of God. Before I used the word of God as a sword to hack away at specific topics. Now I use the word of God to experience all He has to teach me, and to skillfully apply it as a sword to cut through the lies the world believes in; shaken not stirred.
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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