Ephesians 6:17 says to take of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. It is the only weapon given us from the armory, but it is the mightiest we could have. What manner of man goes into battle without a weapon? When Paul wrote this he was probably referring the the 24 inch Gladius used by the Romans to conquer the world. But, there was a catch to this weapon, it was almost useless without special training, and it was for close quarters.
Does our ability to wield the word of the Lord suffer from our lack of training, or maybe the fact that we don't move in close? Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart." There is so much power in this weapon that it can even divide our spirit from soul(mind, will, and emotions.)
This is not simply a book, it has life on every page, it holds the key to freedom for the captive, comfort for the wounded, nourishment for the hungry, water for the thirsty, and hope for the hopeless. I can say this because of John 1, the spiritual genealogy of Christ, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But, how can we expect to win battles if we are not trained to use our weapon? This is a vital question because all the knowledge we need as Christians is within the Bible. In the my unit we spend countless hours and days training, learning everything we can on how to wield our weapon in combat effectively. It says in Hosea 4:6 that, "My people die for lack of knowledge." All that we need is given to us, so ultimately we hold the responsibility.
Our King has already won us the victory in this war, yet our effectiveness is what determines the battles. I wear a memorial bracelet of a friend that was killed this year. We were living in a compound in a village in AFG. On January 2nd he was killed on a foot patrol by a command-det IED. I have the bracelet as a memorial to him, but even deeper as a reminder to myself the ramifications of not taking my part in battle seriously. My friend did not know the Lord, I had 5 weeks with him; five weeks where I could have sown seed, shown him the path to true life, given him the opportunity to be freed from captivity, but I didn't. Not once did I share the Gospel or bring the message of our King Jesus Christ and what He did for us to my friend. Would he have been saved, I don't know, but I missed the opportunity, because I was not vigilante, and I was not prepared. For me, I already say it, "One more, I could have saved one more."
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