Filters and Lenses; Hebrews 4:11-12

God’s word pierces as far as dividing soul and spirit, but what’s the difference between soul and spirit? Isn’t a soul a spirit? Or isn’t a spirit a soul? There may be a division meant between natural thought and those impressions that come supernaturally. The word for “soul” is psyche, which is where we get our words that indicate the mind such as psychology and such. I think that the division meant here between soul and spirit indicates those thoughts and actions which comes from the deduction of the human mind/soul and that which is gleaned from the truth of the Holy Spirit, which is the mind of God. So dividing soul and spirit means that we can think about a problem all we want. We can work out a solution based on our impressions and the input of others. We can even develop our ideas and ethics by observing the world around us, but we cannot really know spiritual truth unless we get it from a supernatural source. The Word of God is that supernatural revelation from which we gain our truth. So in this way, the Word of God separates what comes from our own natural processes of discernment and shows us where they either align with or diverge from the heart of God. I grew up in Texas. I was just looking at some pictures of my old high school friends and remembering some of the good times we had in athletics, marching band, and in class and such. That caused me to reflect on my days in the Marine Corps, as well. As a young man in high school and in the military, I developed a number of ethical and moral stances that were based on my own interactions with people and with the world. These stances were also based on how I wanted to be treated and on what I wanted to get from and give to the world around me. I have to admit that a large percentage of the values that I landed on were not Biblical in nature at all. Some of my ethics were really admirable, but not really very many of them were. Most were pretty self-righteous and just plain selfish. I based all of my decisions on what my father and family taught me, on what I learned in the Marine Corps, and on what I selfishly wanted. Now, if I’m being honest, this is still true even at 42 years old. However there is a difference in the 42 year-old Dave and the 20 year-old Dave. I had no spiritual filter whatsoever through which to sift my thoughts. Now this was NOT necessarily a good thing. As a young man, I could tend to be pretty angry and violent. For a United States Marine, these qualities were actually validated and encouraged. Who wants a soft, sissified Marine in a recon unit, right? Am I still angry and violent in my heart? Yup. The difference is the lens through which I see the world and the filter through which I send my emotions before I let words come out of my mouth (those who know me would argue that I need to let the Holy Spirit filter me a WHOLE lot more)! For what it’s worth though, the Holy Spirit of God now tempers the natural Dave Wilde. I do my best to allow the Word of God to tease out the natural from the supernatural; the soul from the spirit; my own thoughts and desires from the thoughts and desires of God. The whole thing with “joints” and “marrow” indicates the depth to which the Word of God can go into our lives if we allow it. Historically the term “marrow” indicates the absolute deepest recesses of the human existence. I do my best to allow the Word of God to penetrate deeply to my own joints and marrow in order to root out darkness, bitterness, and evil. I let the Word shine light into my dark corners so I can see what’s there. When I see it, I try to sweep that junk out of there!