IT'S ALIVE!

| August 31, 2010

“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.”

 

Hebrews 4:12

 

I was reminded of this verse three times today.  It’s only noon, so there might be more to add later!

 

1)    I was reading chapter 3 in the book of John this morning, specifically Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.  These are verses that most of us have read over and over, even memorizing parts of it.  Nonetheless, something jumped out at me.  In verse 11, Jesus says “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.”  It never hit me before until this morning and while our oldest son Tommy was eating breakfast I went over to share with him.  In our Bible study yesterday (his first day of homeschool!), he was bringing up how in Genesis 1:26, God says, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”  It led to a great conversation about God, the Spirit, and Jesus.  Colossians 1:15-20 is a great passage to reference also.

2)    Tommy and I were reading in Genesis 3 for his Bible study, I read verse 22, “And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’"   There was the “us” again.  After talking about that and about the tree of life mention in Revelations, I stopped Tommy and had him turn to John 6.  Tommy read verse 35, “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’”  Tommy said something to the effect of, “That’s cool!”

3)    Back to Genesis 3, this time in writing our lesson for the Kindergarten room this week, verse 23 this time: “So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.”  I thought it might be a good verse to use for our lesson, contrasting Adam’s work in the Garden of Eden to his work outside the garden.  As I thought about the verse, I realized there must be some sort of mistake because it didn’t make sense.  I heard a pastor say once, “If you think you’ve found a mistake in the Bible, go get a mirror.  Look in it, and you’ll find the problem!”  I didn’t need the mirror; I figured it out but had never thought about it before.  “The ground from which he had been taken,” was throwing me off.  Wasn’t he taken out of the Garden of Eden?  He was, but first he was formed in that desolate land then God loved him so much he placed him in the garden.  I know I’ve read that in Genesis 2:15 many times before but never gave it thought until the Spirit moved me today.

 

God is so awesome.  His Word will always be new to you every time you read it.  It’s not just a book, it’s alive!