God’s Word Is A Weapon

One of my favorite TV Shows is Forged In Fire. It’s a show where bladesmiths, people who make knives, swords, etc., compete in a challenge to make different types of blades in a given amount of time. Seeing these masters of their craft come in and create metal masterpieces out of steel is something to see, and the challenges they have to take on can be pretty impressive, too. I’ve seen them make knives out of car bodies, fishhooks, ball bearings, and battle armor. The best part of the show, though, is when the judges get their hands on these blades and put them to the test.

One judge in particular is Doug Marcaida. He’s the judge who does all the slicing and stabbing tests. From pig carcasses to leather pillows, he’s the one who tests the sharpness and lethality of the weapons these craft-smiths are making. If a blade can handle his rigorous testing, he will simply look at the person who made it and say, “It will K.E.Al.” When I first heard him say that, I thought he was just saying “kill” in a funny way, but it’s something much deeper.

Doug Marcaida is a US Air Force veteran and Filipino martial artist with his own form of Filipino martial arts called Marcaida Kali. He’s spent years training first responders and military personnel on the foundations of this martial art, but also training people to understand that it’s not how many people you hurt, but how many you protect. “K.E.Al.” actually is an acronym for “Keep Everyone Alive.” In other words, your weapon will protect others, not just wreak physical chaos to anyone nearby.

“…and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”
 Ephesians 6:17

We have been granted a weapon as well as disciples of Christ. That weapon is the Word of God. In Ephesians 6, we read about the full armor of God. We have a belt, a breastplate, shoes, and a shield. All of these are defensive parts of your armor. The belt holds everything together. The breastplate protects vital organs. Shoes protect your feet from rough terrain. A shield protects from armed attacks. The only “offensive” weapon we have is a sword. Yet, we don’t read about using God’s Word to attack people in the Bible. Instead, we are to use it to defend.

Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:14–15

It’s so easy to be on the attack these days. Politically, it seems that everyone is at odds with each other. Racially, we have so much finger-pointing that I think people’s index fingers have to be cramping. Religiously, we have everything from people burning Bibles to others saying that all religions are the same. So what does the disciple do? How do we handle these situations? The answer is actually pretty simple.

Memorize God’s Word.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Psalm 119:9–16

Bible memorization is a lost art these days. When I was a kid, it was always a huge part of Sunday School, Church Camp, and teaching from my parents. Nowadays, it’s considered an archaic form of teaching by many. Why worry about memorizing scripture when you have the Bible with you all day on your phone? This line of thinking is dangerous. As David said, “I will not forget Your Word.” When we have the Word of God imprinted on our brains, we can better use it to defend what we believe.

In today’s world, spiritual attacks are constant. Your faith is on trial now more than at any time in the history of this country, and it’s only getting worse. If we don’t know the Bible, we are going to look foolish in the eyes of many, and people will reject Christ because of it. This is why we need to take time each day to work on memorizing scripture. How can you wield your sword if you don’t practice? The greatest example of “rightly handling the Word of truth” is from Jesus Himself.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Matthew 4:1–11

People will try to twist God’s Word to fool you, trip you up, and make you look like you have no idea what you are talking about. When we have taken the time to really hide God’s Word on our hearts, we are ready to take on these flaming arrows. When someone comes to you with questions about God’s Word and is curious about Christianity, knowing the Bible will give you the words you need to say. Satan wants you to believe the lie that we don’t need to memorize scripture; we can just type a few search words and find whatever we need that way. Don’t believe it. Don’t buy into it. The spiritual discipline of scripture memorization is a game-changer for the disciple.

Our ultimate goal is to make Heaven a heavily populated place. In other words, we are in the business of saving lives: eternal lives. When we take God’s Word to heart and work hard to memorize as much of it as we can, we are learning how to truly use our one weapon and wield it wisely. We can do our best to keep everyone alive for eternity. In other words, if we hide God’s word in our hearts and heads, our weapon will “K.E.Al.”