Saturday, March 31: Hebrews 4- .

I felt a little out of it as I was reading today, and I wondered if the Word could burrow into my exhausted body. The theme of rest was a read disconnect with me as I read today, probably because I was so exhausted. It never ceases to surprise me how much my personal attitude or situation impacts my time with the Lord.

Anyway, when I turned into verse 12, the text light up. 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I pictured not a Roman sword but a surgeon’s scalpel… with precise cuts, body layers are sliced apart. Surgery is performed to bring health back into a damaged, broken or diseased body. And that’s what God’s Word does to me and for me regularly.

When I exercise the discipline of reading and contemplating the Word, it works its way into my life, surgically healing and repairing my depraved human condition, cutting out sin. Actually God’s Word generally confronts me of my sin and then I must rely on the Holy Spirit to help me gain victory over that sin. Victory comes with the cooperative effort of exercising my will and God’s strength to do so in a godly manner.

And so my meditations went.

Before I closed in prayer, I looked back at verse 12-13 and noticed the 3^rd sentence. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. One final thought came to me. “No use pretending, Bill. Deal with your sins and issues.God knows what they are anyway. You are only fooling yourself when you pretend you don’t have sins to contend with.”

This thought brings me back to the gift of God’s Word… which can penetrate and repair the sin-diseased areas of my life. Thanks be to God!

Lord, thank You for Your Word, a gift. Yes, like surgery, sometimes my time in Your Word hurts… but it is a repairing, healing hurt. I didn’t like the pain and recovery time I needed after my emergency appendectomy, but I am alive today because of it.

Lord, thank You that I am spiritually alive today because of the scalpel work of Your Word in my life. Thank You… Lord Jesus, Father and Spirit. Thank You. Amen.