Hebrews 4:12
Watch a group of young children at play and it won’t be long before you hear one try to alter the lifestyle of another by the power of words: “If you don’t give me a cookie, then you’re a purple toad frog!” Or, watch a group of adults at play (or war) and you’ll see the same thing: “You’re dead meat, my friend!” While it’s likely that neither children nor adults really expect anything to happen when they express their hopes and wishes verbally, it reveals something deeper—we sense that words are supposed to have power, even if ours have only a little bit.
For instance, we can’t turn people into purple toad frogs or dead meat, but we can change the expression on their faces. And we can even prompt behavioral changes. For instance, Proverbs says that reckless words can pierce and wise words can heal (12:19), and that gentle words can calm and harsh words can provoke (15:1). But again, it’s not airwaves and vibrating eardrums that cause these changes. It is the personality of one person intersecting with the personality of another via the medium of words. That’s about as close as we can come to our words having power.
But God’s words are different (because God is different). When he spoke, nonexistent things came into being (light, seas, animals; see Genesis 1). And God’s Son, while on earth, spoke to inanimate objects like hands and eyes and literally changed their molecular makeup (he healed them). All with a word. God’s words have unbelievable power, and they don’t lose power when they’re committed to paper. Hebrews tells us that God’s words in Scripture have the ability to penetrate the deepest part of our person and reveal what is there. God’s words vibrate more than the inner ear; they vibrate our whole heart, causing us to hear his voice in the inner man.
If you want to make progress toward spiritual maturity, let the Spirit of God use the word of God in your heart. But be prepared—not only is the word living and active, it’s sharper than a sword! But what it cuts, it also heals.
God’s Promise to You: “My word is the scalpel that renews and restores the human heart.”
