Activated - Hebrews 4:12

Last week I had a touch of food poisoning. A quick search for what to do to lessen the effects and shorten the length of my misery lead to a substance referred to as activated charcoal. The promise on the label said that it would remove toxins and poisons. Now I’m not one to believe a claim until it’s proven. I naturally come out of the gate with the "Why?" and/or "How?" angle and start digging. I discovered that activated charcoal is basically carbon that has been processed with gas and/or high heat to have small, low-volume pores which increases the surface area available for absorption. A single gram of activated charcoal has a combined surface area of over 32,000 square feet! I could live in that. Our intestines work similarly to absorb nutrients from our food in the digestive process. Tiny hair-like microvilli on small finger-like projections protrude form the mucosal lining to increase the surface area of our intestines for optimal absorption. Bottom line: Absorption can be life or death on either end of this spectrum. It’s vitally important. 

The same is true for the absorption of the Word of God, the Bible, into the hearts and minds of anyone who considers themselves a follower of Jesus. Have you ever attended a church service and felt as though the message was literally just for you, like the pastor had been reading your mail? Do you chalk this up like this “Living Word” deal is just for pastors? Like this divine revelation that appears to happens when a ordained minister reads the Bible is essentially the polar opposite of your own experiences with scripture? Let me tell you that this was certainly not meant to be this way! God’s Word is alive and it is for EVERYONE! The problem is that we often approach the Bible with hearts that aren’t activated to absorb it… In order to activate our hearts for optimal absorption of the Word of God, we must fully accept that it’s true, that it’s alive today, and that it will do what God intended it to do in our lives. That’s the practical side. When we address this deficiency and humbly ask the Spirit of God, living within us, to interpret the scriptures to us as He did the common, uneducated apostles of the early church, we’ll experience a breakthrough like many of us have never thought possible. God love’s you. He desires to speak to you. And He will activate your heart to receive His Word!