Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
This is one of the most revealing scriptures in the Bible because it shows us that nothing can be hidden from Jesus, (the word of God), not even our inner thoughts. In other words, there is no such thing as a secret from the Lord. I don’t know about you but to me that is a sobering thought particularly since by nature I am a very private person. I will usually tell only what you need to know and no more. To think that all my thoughts are known by the Lord is downright scary.
We need to live a life of repentance in order to keep our mind, soul and spirit empty of any thoughts that would not be pleasing to God. When we repent, Jesus separates our sins from us as for as the East is from the West never to be remembered again. Repenting daily is like taking a bath daily … it keeps our spirit clean.
The reason that is so important is because we think a lot more wrong than we actually do wrong and without repenting our thoughts are known by the Lord. This type of repentance is not to be confused with salvation repentance. This type of repentance is for mind purification only.
The Jews understood that the Word of God was a known name of the Messiah and therefore the apostles used it when writing to them. The writer of out text wanted to make sure that those who read it would understand that the Word is the living God … omnipotent and omniscient. The Word of God is not a thing but a person who is a Judge and a discerner of the secrets of men’s hearts.
As a matter of fact, He is the same Word that spoke all things into being out of nothing in creation. He is the same Word that was promised and spoken of by the prophets from the beginning of the world.
Since the Word, (Jesus), is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of man’s heart that should encourage us to live a repentant lifestyle.
I remember as a young preacher an older lady from out church came up to me one day and said, “I have calluses on my knees from praying for you”. I did not understand what this lady meant at the time because I was not doing anything wrong. Nevertheless, I thanked her and walked away. I thought about what she said over the years and one day I finally figured it out. She was not talking about something I was doing wrong … the calluses on her knees were the result of her praying for my thought patterns in regard to our text.
I have always been amazed how God seems to assign one person to look out for another sometimes without that person even knowing about it. What is even more amazing is the intercessors that God chooses are often women. Thank God for the strong women that He has put in my life.
Father,
Because of our text You have put these wonderful warriors in my life to hold up my arms like Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms so he could win his battle. Lord help me to be an Aaron or a Hur for someone else as that sweet lady was for me.
Amen
