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
Warnings are everywhere. Just look at the packaging of the food you buy. There are all sorts of warnings on it. It contains peanuts, or it was packaged in a place where there were peanuts. It contains salt. How much fat and oils are inside. Even fresh fruit and vegetables tell you that they came from outside the country.
If you think that’s bad, look at the user’s manual of any power tool. It has warning signs all over it. There’s page after page of warnings; don’t do this. When using, be sure to do it this way. Just check out that not-so-little manual that comes with every new car. It’s chock-full of warnings that are so frightening it might make you think about giving up driving. And then there are those warnings that we weren’t looking for. That we weren’t expecting. I’ll bet everything I have and then some that these things have happened to you.
A smoke detector went off in the middle of the night, making you sit up in shock and fright. That is, until you figured out that there wasn’t the smell of smoke. Then you took that deep sigh of relief as you tried to remember where you put those funny square batteries.
You were just sitting there when all of a sudden your cell phone made this terrible screeching sound. Thinking that a bomb had gone off, you grab it to find out about a child that was missing. And while we are thankful for the technology and AMBER Alert[1] notifications, it always shocks us.
Sitting at your computer, you’re casually looking through emails or browsing social media sites when all of a sudden, this screen pops up. It’s warning you that someone or something is attacking your machine. Your virus protection software is telling you that it’s detected a threat.
The writer of this letter gives the Hebrews a warning that’s meant to shock them. To wake them up. To make them feel uncomfortable. To make them remember the warnings that God’s given to them throughout the history of their people.
That warning comes in the form of a reminder about who God is and how he’s already spoken to them. There’s no doubt about how he’s reached out to them. Trying to get their attention. To warn them. And that warning comes by pointing them back to the word of God.
He describes the word of God as a whole lot more than just words on a page. And these words aren’t just some words put together by a person. These words come straight from God. And that makes them special. These are words that need to be listened to. Paid attention to. Words to be obeyed because they come from the one who made and loves us.
God’s word is not something dead. It’s not even just alive. It’s constantly active and alive. God’s word isn’t sitting there in front of some large TV screen, chilling out. Not on your life. It’s moving around, looking for a place to make its home inside us.
But God doesn’t just want his word to sit there and live in us. He’s got much bigger plans than that for his word and us. He wants his powerful word to put his power into us. To change us. To give us his power to live each and every moment for him. And once in us, God wants his word to be shared with the people around us.
Just this morning, I was picking up coffee grounds for Mary Ann’s compost pile from a local restaurant. As I walked in, I saw someone waiting for their takeout order. I said hi and they asked me how I was doing. Well, they just opened the door, so I said that it was a beautiful and glorious day that God had given us.
She looked at me and said, “That’s just what I needed to hear. You have no idea what I’m going through.” Again, she opened the door, so I spoke some words of encouragement into her ears. Into her life. Into her heart. She smiled as it seemed to lighten her load.
Now, I’m nobody special. And the words I said weren’t anything remarkable. Heck, they weren’t even inspiring. But they were from God’s word, and he’s the one who gave them power. He’s the one who blessed them. He’s the one who used them in a life. They might have been a stranger to me, but they were no stranger to God. And he knows how to reach them. How to comfort them. How to save them. How to heal them.
The world doesn’t need another person jumping up and down about how terrible things are. There are plenty of people taking care of that message. But perhaps God wants to use you to speak words of kindness and hope into someone today. Words that build up and not tear down.
Maybe, God’s important warning is addressed to you. You’re the one who’s beaten down by life. By the people all around you. Or the weight of guilt and past failures is just too much to bear. If that’s where you find yourself, the best place to turn is not the internet or any self-help guru. You need to turn to God himself. Let him and his word come in and sink deep into your soul. Let him speak to you through Jesus’ death on the cross and his words of loving acceptance.
Noodling Questions
Do you welcome warnings? Give two examples.
What’s your “plan” when you need to give a warning?
How can we be better at accepting God’s warnings?
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