Yesterday a friend popped round. I don’t know him that well yet. He’s a musician and a bally nice guy. But, and I don’t mean this to sound too cutting, (pun very much intended) it also turns out he is a “knife geek.” I’ve have never knowingly met a sharpness nerd before, so I was somewhat surprised to spend any amount of my life discussing the qualities of various knives. Sheesh!

The thing is (forgive my apparentness nerdiness for a second) knives, in case you were as blissfully unaware as my good self, have either an Asian or a European blade. The Asian ones have a much smaller angle so are razor sharp, but don’t stay sharp for long. The European varieties have a wider angle, so are less accurate, but last longer before needing to be sharpened. Phew. Don’t you feel 100% better now I’ve shared that?!

Well….. you know me. Or maybe you don’t… but anything I am told has the potential for God to speak into it. So it was not long afterwards that I felt His spirit begin to whisper a simple truth to me. The wonderful verse, Hebrews 4:12, in the Bible which describes itself, came back to me:
“For the word of God is living 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.”

Blunt knives are fairly useless. They may look the part, but try them out on an unsuspecting aubergine and not a lot will happen, except perhaps a bit of numb bruising to the vegetable or, a good deal more dangerously, to the chef. The sharper the knife, the more accurate the cutting process. So it is with God’s word. There are many times I can look back on when God has used His word to correct me, to pull me up short, to wind me and stop me in my tracks. As a surgeon our Father is accurate with His knife. He does not cut where he doesn’t need to. HIs cuts are precise, sure and designed to remove what should be taken. He knows well that the sharper and more accurate the wound, the quicker the healing.

We too are not meant to be blunt in terms of how we speak to others or handle the Bible. We are meant to be accurate and ‘sharp’, knowing how to answer people when they ask us about life. Here are just some of the questions I have been asked in the last three days:
1. How do you know when its right to leave a church?
2. How can I share lovingly with my friends who are Christians, gay and married, that I feel their lifestyle does not reflect God’s best for them?
3. Why shouldn’t I have killed that snail?
4. How do I know I have truly grieved for my father?

All of these questions can be taken directly to the word of God. I do not expect anyone to come to me and be given a Bible and told to simply ‘work it out’ on their own. That would be like trying to perform a biopsy on yourself. I am called, and you are (if you are one of Jesus’ family) to know His word and be able to use it to bless, provoke, encourage, teach, comfort, cover, discipline and bring joy to others.

I, for one, felt God’s correction yesterday. I realised that my own spiritual knife was rather dull and blunt. I am clearly an Asian kind of blade. I need sharpening often.