The Sword of the Spirit
“And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:17(b)
I was born in a little ten-room clinic in Albertville, Alabama, in 1956; but one of the fondest memories I have of that clinic was the fact that later, my maternal grandmother “Mamaw Iris”, worked in the kitchen at the clinic for Dr. Lavendar, the owner-operator, for several years. I remember distinctly talking to my grandmother about it when I was a teenager, and she proceeded to tell me that not only did she prepare and serve meals to the patients while working there, but she also assisted Dr. Lavendar in surgery if he and his nurse needed extra help, (in the days of ether mind you)!
Likened to the deadly razor-sharp, two-edged sword of the Roman solider, Paul commands the Christian to receive daily “the sword of the (Holy) Spirit which is the word of God”. The wonderful truth here is-God’s word (the Greek language means the Spiritually imparted rhema word given clearly and unquestionably to the Christian at the exact time of need drawn from the whole counsel of God’s word which is at work in the life of the believer) not only serves as the premier offensive weapon we take to the enemy in the power of God, the rhema word has also been designed by The Great Physician to do something else. It has the ability to penetrate the thoughts, imaginations, and moral understanding of the Christian way down deep where no human could ever go; to expose what is not of God, and then, by God’s power in Christ, transform! (See Hebrew 4:12 and note the context of the surrounding verses in the chapter).
Praise God for His mighty and tender sword that truly transforms our thinking and our living, from the inside out! Pastor Louie