A surgeon uses a scalpel to begin a process of opening a patient up. The surgeon does this in order to see or understand more about a problem inside the patient.

Hebrews describes God’s Word as “sharper than any double-edged sword.” In our world today, this picture of a sword may be difficult to grasp. The idea of a scalpel may be a little easier to understand. A scalpel can open us up and reveal what’s going on inside us.

As Hebrews urges us to “make every effort to enter [God’s] rest,” we soon learn why we should pay attention to that warning—“for the word of God is alive and active.” The all-powerful, all-knowing God knows us through and through; nothing “is hidden from God’s sight.”

Sometimes we try to hide and cover up the sin in our life. But nothing is hidden from God. And God’s Word reveals things in us and to us that we might think could be hidden. It shows us the truth about us.

We are called to strive to ­enter into God’s rest; we need to continue following the Lord and not harden our hearts to him. God guides us through his Word. By the power of his Spirit, God convicts us of the truth through his Word and leads us to live by the way of love, sharing his goodness and his good news with others.