Word of God

I have been reading through "Desiring God" by John Piper. The whole point of the book is for us to view our Christian life as Hedonistic. Hedonism means to pursue your own happiness. Most Christians would say that we are not to do this but we should seek to glorify God. Piper argues that we are to pursue our joy (which isn't necessarily the same as happiness) by asking God to change our desires to want to glorify Him. Obeying God is the only way we will have true joy.

I have come to a chapter called "Scripture: Kindling for Christian Hedonism" and this quote stuck out to me:

"Satan's number-one objective is to destroy our joy of faith. We have one offensive weapon: the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). But what many Christians fail to realize is that we can't draw the sword from someone else's scabbard. If we don't wear it, we can't wield it. If the Word of God does not abide in us (John 15:7), we will reach for it in vain when the enemy strikes. But if we do wear it, if if lives within us, what mighty warriors we can be!"

When I read this, a couple thoughts came to me. First, that it is foolish for someone to go into battle without a sword. We can't expect to fight against sin without anything to fight with. Sin will win every time and very easily.

Second, was that a sword must always be kept up. It must be cleaned after every battle; polished and always kept in the best condition. Battles occur often, and the sword must be tended to even more so. This doesn't mean that we fix any problems in the Bible (by the way, there aren't any), but that we keep up our knowledge of them. Memorization and meditation is key to fighting against sin. Memorizing it keeps it in your mind and helps you to always have your sword with you. Even if you don't have the hard copy, it's still just as effective.

Third, you have to know how to use a sword. You would grab the blade and swing the handle around, otherwise you will cut yourself. So it is with the Bible. We can't throw verses around flippantly if we don't know what the context is, or what it is really saying. This is where meditation comes in. Meditating (on your already memorized scripture) helps you understand your weapon. It shows you how to use it so that you know the moves to use on different enemies. Don't fool yourself or condemn others because you assume on the scriptures. Know what they say, then live by them.

The Word of God is just that; God speaking to us. We need to listen. It's the only thing worth listening to. And it should give us joy to hear God speak. Honor Him and reap joy for yourself by knowing and understanding His Word. It's useless otherwise.