Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart! —Charles Haddon Spurgeon
It cuts both ways, this “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The versatility of the armor God has given us is truly astounding. Yes, the sword of the Spirit can be used both as an offensive and a defensive weapon. It can be also used as a scalpel, to do self-surgery by cutting out lies and emotions that can grow in our soul like festering tumors. God’s Word, if you “take it up,” can be used to cut that stuff out.
Let it do its work through just this one passage today:
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:13-14)
Listen, who doesn’t fight against discouragement, despair, and possibly even depression? God’s Word is a weapon against that stuff. It puts all of our problems in perspective. The sword of the Spirit can be used today to combat life-sucking lies and faith-draining emotion. I’m telling you the truth on that.
Lord, I’m taking up the truth You have given me in Your Word, and I ask that the Spirit would use it as a sword to remove anything that is contrary to the truth of who I am in You and who You are in me. I believe that I will see, and that I am seeing, your goodness while I live here on earth. I’m waiting for You today. Be my strength. Be my courage. Amen.