“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)
Years ago there was a woman whose alcoholic husband had died. Her two children were giving her problems, finances were tight, and life was very hard. Then, to make matters worse, she received a diagnosis of cancer from her doctor. No treatment was available and she was very bitter.
Her doctor, a Christian, wanted to talk with her about the Lord, but she would not allow him to share his witness. She did, however, accept a small New Testament from him. A few weeks later, the doctor learned from the newspaper obituary that she had died. He sent a card to the family, telling them he had donated Bibles in her memory to the Gideons.
The woman’s daughter called him. “Could you please send us a Bible like the ones you donated in the memory of our mother,” she asked. “We don’t have a Bible in the home. The last six days she was alive, her whole life changed. She was no longer bitter, she wasn’t afraid to die, and she said something about knowing Jesus. But she asked that her Bible be buried in her hand, and we couldn’t keep it. Would you please send us a Bible so that we can find what Mama found in that book?”
The doctor sent them a Bible and the daughter, the son, and one sister were saved as a result! That is the power of the Word of God!
Probably no one reading this devotional would dispute that God’s Word changes lives. But the question is does it change yours often? Someone said, “News articles may inform us. Novels may inspire us. Poetry may enrapture us. But only the living, active Word of God can transform us.”
Evangelist Gypsy Smith was once confronted by a man who said he received no inspiration from the Bible although he had “gone through it several times.” Smith replied, “Let it go through you once, then you will tell a different story.”