October 30: Hebrews 4 8-13

Key Verse: Hebrews 4 12
For the word of God is alive 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.

Devotion:
When God first gave us the example of taking one day of the week to stop and rest, He also showed us we should be spending time together as a church so we can learn from each other. God impressed upon the disciples how important it is to get together and share the gospel in the hopes we would do so faithfully and with joy!

The words in our bibles are described as being sharper than any two-edged sword, something which may be a bit lost in modern society due to the lack of sharp swords in our repertoire! As someone who enjoys cooking and preparing meals, I know the advantage of having very sharp knives to work with in the kitchen; cutting a tomato with a blunt knife invariably ends up with a squishy mess instead of nice thin slices! Equally taking your sharpest knife and using the back of the blade will end up in the same mess…

Just like having the right tools to work with in the kitchen, we need the right tools to work with people around us. God has commanded us to go out into all the world and teach them about Him, but unless we are willing to take the right tools with us, we may not be able to give people the advice they need – we may end up in confusing them instead of teaching them! We need to take the truth, God’s words, with us and share it in the right manner.

Another thing about preparing meals is we have to use what we have and not say we will prepare meals for which we do not have the correct ingredients. The same must be said of the gospel. We need to take what we have and use it without promising things we do not have or things which are not in our bibles. God wants us to take the truth as it is written down and share it with those around us. He made sure the right words were written down for us so we could have the best tools to share the gospel with people. Use your bible how it was intended to be used – follow Jesus’ example.

Points to Ponder:
Do you go to church each week?

Is the gospel being shared in your weekly gathering?