Ephesians 6:10-17 tells us what our spiritual armor is. We need this armor in order to stand against the devil’s schemes. We need spiritual armor because we are not fighting a conventional battle, but a spiritual one. Pages and pages could be written about each piece of armor that is listed: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. But I’m going to zero in on just one item of armor: the sword, the Word of God.
Scripture has a lot to say about God’s Word and likens it to many things. Here is a list I compiled. You can probably find more. God’s Word is like:
Seed Luke 81
Fire: Jeremiah 23:29
A hammer: Jeremiah 23:29
A lamp: Psalm 119:11
It cleanses: Psalm 119:9
It heals: Psalm i107:20
It keeps from sin: Psalm 119:11
It quickens: Psalm 119:5
It’s pure: Psalm 119:140
We can live by it: Deuteronomy 8:3
It’s true: Psalm 119:60; John 17:17
Brings joy: Jeremiah 15:16
We can put our hope in it: Psalm 119:74, 81
It is magnified above all things along with the name of God: Psalm 138:2
My husband, Ted, and I went to Uganda in 2004 to teach in a Bible College there. We were taken to a conference for church leaders and asked to speak. I chose the subject of the Word of God and expounded on many of the qualities listed above. When I sat down the head of the Mission, Ron DeVore, asked how many in the congregation owned their own Bible. I was chagrined as very few people raised their hands. Ron went on to exhort them to skip meals if they had to, so they could buy a Bible.
I have almost more Bibles than I can count in many different versions, and here were these precious people who were leaders in their various churches who did not have the means to purchase even one Bible.
Ted and I had gone through Holland en route to Uganda so he could visit his family and we could visit a church that we had ministered in during the four years we spent in Holland. Ted spoke in that church and explained that we were on our way to Uganda to teach in a Bible College. While we were in Uganda a man who was in that meeting sent us $500 to buy Bibles for Uganda. What a wonderful gift!!! We purchased Bibles and distributed them to various pastors to give to their leaders. One pastor shared that one of his leaders jumped up and down for joy, praising God: “I have my own Bible, I have my own Bible.”
Most Christian homes in America contain multiple Bibles, but I wonder if we value them as much as those dear people in Uganda who were overjoyed to receive one Bible!!
Let’s not neglect God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit!! But hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against God.
Naomi Brinkman
