Could it be that the Bible is not designed to answer questions about God, humanity, and the relationship between the two so much as to encourage the asking of questions regarding these topics? Consider how God renamed Jacob (which means heel) to Israel (which means to struggle, wrestle, or strive with God) after the man wrestled with an angel of the Lord in the attempt to find out God’s true name. Perhaps Christians, as a people who are called into coinheritance with the people of Israel are, as its namesake implies, meant to struggle, wrestle, and strive with God and the sacred texts regarding God, humanity, and our relationship rather than mindlessly submitting to whatever simplistic, legalistic, or philosophic claims that we wished it had.

I think this is a good question. Throughout history, we have always wanted rules and laws. Israel pleaded with God for a king to rule over them. The Pharisees had their rules. Today, we have the Bible. Can we not just live? Do we have to settle? Is it ok to not be content? These are all questions that I have asked recently. Is there more to life than work? Why is it so hard to find a community to fellowship with? These are all questions that we can’t readily find answers to in the Bible (I could be wrong, but I’ve searched).

I also find myself wondering if I have gone astray some how. Have I lost the spark? Why is it so hard to be loving as of late? Has my heart become hard? If it has, then why was my heart hurting on Sunday when I was being preached at and not being taught? Is it ok for me to ask these questions? I think so. I think these are the questions of a person being awoken. The questions of a person not ok with just existing. I have become weary of searching for answers to questions. I want to live now. I want to enjoy living with my wife.

I was told once that I was searching for God. I was wading out in a river and wanting more and didn’t realize I was waist deep in the river amidst the current. I could be swept away at any time, but I was spending my time searching for God and didn’t realize I was already surrounded and in His presence. I fear that many of us fall into that trap. We search for the exact answer to the question and forget to enjoy the pursuit of the answer. We search for truth and collect truth. We then have contests to see who has more truth. We miss the point when we compare who has more truth. That’s not the purpose of truth. The truth sets us free, we shouldn’t be enslaved by truth.

So anyway, I didn’t expect those thoughts to come out. I just started typing and the words came. I’ve discovered some new questions to think about. I just need to remember to cherish the journey and not store the answer away in a trophy book.

Thanks Kurt, you’ve given me even more than I could’ve asked for.

Paul uses some interesting wording here. He writes, as translated by the NASB, “…And take the Helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

I have always been taught that the “Sword of the Spirit” is always the Bible. As a growing Christian believing that, I would use this understanding to defend my faith with scripture as well as be on the offense with scripture. This understanding was also used for evangelism. While this might be correct, I wonder why Paul uses this wording. Was he referring to the scripture of the time? Or was Paul merely painting a picture of how to grow and advance in your faith?

Without armor and weaponry, a soldier could not defend himself and advance on the battleground. Knowing the ideas of spiritual warfare, I think Paul was using this imagery to convey a message on how to defend from spiritual attacks.

Looking at the main subject of this letter, Paul spends a lot of time talking about the mystical body of Christ. The end of the letter continues this idea, talking about the spiritual realm. This makes an interesting interpretation of this scripture and brings me to the wording that Paul uses.

Earlier, I alluded to “word” as being scripture. But a look at the actual Greek word that is used (rhema) brings me to a different conclusion. This word literally means an utterance or a topic especially of command. The interpretation this brings me to is the literal word, or command, of God. Since this is the “Sword of the Spirit,” I would say this is about the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we are in direct communication with God (in a sense). We can receive a direct command from God. This is the “word” that I think Paul is talking about.

Take these ideas and think about them. This is how I am interpreting this scripture and might be completely wrong.