“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”         – Hebrews 4:12

The basic point of Hebrews is that Jesus is better. Chapter four discusses how not only he is better, but his message is also better. Any good news this world may offer, your doctor may offer, and even the Geico^© Gecko may offer cannot compare to Christ’s good news, the gospel. The message of the gospel is that if we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus Christ to save us we have eternal life and eternal joy.  If we neglect or reject this offer, there is only “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27).  Run to Christ!

Even as Christians who have eternal life and joy, we still live in these sinful bodies.  This means that we are subject to temptation from the world, the Devil, and ourselves.  Scripture speaks of redemption in all three tenses:  past, present, future:  We have been redeemed, we are redeemed, and we will be redeemed.  Until we are fully redeemed and are living in redeemed, resurrected bodies, we must fight against “all that is in the world:  the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (I John 2:16).

Think of it like this:  We have heart disease.  “Our heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand  it” (Jeremiah 17:9)?  We need open heart surgery.  We must allow the Great Physician to use His scalpel, the Sword of the Spirit, to change the desires of our heart to match His .

To carry this analogy (possibly) too far:

Reading God’s Word is changing your diet.

Memorizing God’s Word is taking the right medication.

Meditating on God’s Word is changing your exercise routine.

Studying God’s Word is laying on the surgery table under the knife of the Great Physician, allowing him to take out your old, cold, heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh; open heart surgery .

How is your spiritual health? What are you doing to change your spiritual lifestyle ?

“For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”     – I Timothy 4:8