Tuesday; October 17
There are a couple of places where the Bible (or the word of God) is compared to a sword. Hebrews 4:12 states that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. Paul challenges believers to take up the sword of the Spirt, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The essence of the illustration seems to be that we are in a battle between good and evil and we must be prepared to fight with effective weapons. Now, while this is a great analogy, we need to be careful how we use it. You see, when Paul was describing the opponent he writes, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:11-12). He is challenging us to do battle with satan and his minions, not turn the weapons on co-workers of faith. It has