Day 5:  The Word is a Sword

CONNECT 

Talk about this as a family:

Suppose you have a house. There are different rooms in your house, such as your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, study, and office. Perhaps you have other rooms in your home, which you may add.

Now, when a guest comes to your home, which rooms will he or she be allowed to go to? Why? 

Which rooms would you prefer that the guest will not enter? Why?

Usually, when a guest comes to our home, we decide where he or she can go. To the living room, yes. To the dining room, yes. To the kitchen, maybe. To the study or office, maybe. To the bathroom, yes. To the bedroom, most likely, no! Because it is our private sanctuary and where we keep our most private things. And sometimes, it is messy. That’s why we don’t want our guests to go there.  

Now, imagine if this house were your heart. And one day, Jesus comes knocking. He wants to go to your bedroom, where you keep your most private things, like your thoughts, your fears, and everything else. The thing is, Jesus already knows about all our private things. Will you allow Him in and let Him see all your messy and private stuff?

READ THE WORD

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 (NIV)  

If you have seen a war movie where people fight with swords, you have an idea of how dangerous a sword is. A sword is a weapon with a blade that is used to cut the enemy.  Like a sword, the Bible can cut through our hearts. It can pierce through our thoughts, our emotions, our fears, our messy and private things, and everything else hidden in there. This is because, as we have learned earlier, nothing can be hidden from God. He knows everything within us.   

You see, when God changes us, He does not just change us on the outside. He goes to our hearts and He lovingly uses His word to show us how we are straying away from Him. Even though He sees all our sin and the things we try to hide from Him, He gives us His mercy and grace. He takes away the sin in our lives and transforms us into who He created us to be.

HUDDLE

Parents to Kids

4–6 years old  

• What lessons have you learned from the Bible? 

7–12 years old  

• Have you ever read something in the Bible and felt that it reached your heart? What lesson did you learn from it? 

Kids to Parents   

• As you read the Bible, how has it transformed or changed you?    
• What are some things you had to give up?

As we read the Bible, God will slowly use it to work in our hearts. The lessons we learn are proof. Sometimes, it will be a small cut. But other times, we may feel it painfully slicing through our hearts. Whether God's surgery to repair us requires a minor cut or a deep one, God's goal is to transform us for the better from the inside. Will you let Him do His work in you?

PRAY

Dear God, thank You for being patient with me and for showing me the areas in my life that need to change. Thank You for Your mercy and grace to forgive me and help me to obey You. I pray that as I read Your word, You will help me grow and live a life that honors You. In Jesus’ name, amen!

DISCOVER

Do you know that there is another way the Bible can be used as a sword? 

In Ephesians 6:17, it says, Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The word of God can be used as a sword when we have to fight the enemy. When we declare, believe, and act on the word of God, it stops the enemy in his tracks and forces him to be at a standstill. Our enemy cannot truly harm us. But in order to fight with God’s word, we have to know it. 

Are you ready to wield this weapon? Start training and using this weapon by memorizing God’s word today!