Sword

 

For the word of God is alive 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)

 

In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. (Revelation 1:16)

 

I love swords. I’d own some if I had the money to get them, somewhere to keep them, and the time and money needed to learn to use them. Somehow, it doesn’t seem quite right to hang a sword on a wall and use it for decoration, though that’s what the one sword I own is – decoration.

Years ago, I gave a speech about swords, letter openers, and life that won a local speech contest. The point was that swords were hard to find (they’re easier to find now), cost a lot, are difficult to store as a collection, and don’t have many uses on a daily basis. They represent the big events in our lives. Letter openers, on the other hand, are small enough that more than 100 can probably fit in a shoebox (maybe 2 shoeboxes) if need be. They represent the smaller things that actually take up most of our lives.

All that is just to say that when I find a verse that mentions swords, my eyes and ears prick up. I even found a way to represent the verses above in one of the stories I’m working on. When I read that part, I am pleased to be a writer.

Swords aren’t meant to be decorations. They’re supposed to do something.  They’re meant to separate a person from the life they’ve been living. They aren’t really meant to look pleasing (though same have that added benefit.) God’s Word is like that. It’s not supposed to sit there, looking or sounding pretty. It’s supposed to do something, like separating you from the life you’ve been living so that you can have the kind of life that Jesus lives.