February 10

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. — Heb 4:12 BSB

What does it mean for the word of God to be "quick"? Does it mean it moves swiftly? While Psalm 147:15 does say that God's word “runs very swiftly,” that’s not what “quick” means in this context. Here, “quick” means "living," as in the phrase “living oracles” (Acts 7:38). It’s an old English word for “alive,” like in the expression, “who shall judge the quick and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1), meaning the living and the dead. So, when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram “went down quick into the pit” (Numbers 16:30), they went down alive. Similarly, when we are “quickened” by God, it means we are made spiritually alive (Ephesians 2:1).

God’s word, when taken by itself, is dead. It has no power to impart life unless it is empowered by the Spirit. The word on the page is like lifeless letters, but when the incarnate Word, Jesus, applies the written word to the heart, it comes alive and communicates life to the soul. As James says, “Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth.” Peter also says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23). This life-giving word brings eternal realities into the soul, firmly implanted by God’s hand. The conscience is awakened to the fear of God, and the soul is raised from spiritual death to a new, supernatural life.