If every believer could understand that the Word of God isn’t just writings on a page, a general listing of suggestions to living a prosperous life, and an accounting of historical events in Biblical times, but moreover, the Word of God is alive! You can read the Word and it will touch an area in your heart that’s so deep you yourself didn’t even know it was there. It will speak to you about things not even in reference to the actual words on the page that you are reading. And why is that? Because the Word of God isn’t pen and ink and words formed by letters on a page, the Word of God is the Spirit of God, is the presence of God, and is Jesus Himself! (John 1:14) When you spend time in the Word it’s as though you are holding God’s hand, as though you are sitting in the very throne room of God before the creator of all things having a conversation with Him about life, about your life. Many believers embrace the Word to a certain degree, knowing mentally that it is beneficial to their lives, but they haven’t embraced the Word spiritually to the point that it is their very lifeline; their life-support machine that keeps them from flat-lining. We need to see the Word as THE most essential item in life. To read it every day and allow it to completely envelop our thoughts, attitudes, ability to reason, and everything that makes us who we are.
All the more today, as we see the culmination of eternity on the horizon, and as we sense the ending of this age and the ushering in of Christ’s return, we need to be strong, built up, and ready to combat the wrath of the evil one in his attempts to destroy every last one in the little time he has left. We need to understand that the Word of God is like antibodies to our spiritual immune system. These antibodies destroy speculations, vain imaginations, thoughts and lies, and attitudes of the devil that are attempting to draw us away from our Savior. The more Word of God that we have in us, the greater our immunity, and the greater level of antibodies we have built up to combat these things. Some Christians have a low Word level, a low level of antibodies and they are weak and anemic. Their immune systems are vulnerable, exposed, and easily susceptible to the elements. Being weak from a low level of Word makes the believer an easy target for the devil and reminds me of how sharks also prey on the weak.
Each year the Discovery Channel features sharks for an entire week in their programming. They air episodes featuring everything from the huge variety and species of sharks to the environment they live in, their behavior, and most often, shark attacks on humans. These programs are quite fascinating, and in some strange way, every year I enjoy watching them. Recently, I tuned into one such program. And the one key element the experts explained that is a reoccurring fact about sharks in their survival, is their sensory ability to detect weak and injured fish. They most often will feed on the weak. They have sensors that detect sound waves from wounded fish flailing about in the water. They can be hundreds of miles away and yet can detect a weak fish and they will immediately make their way to that location. The experts talked in length about why humans often get attacked. They said that humans are often mistaken for fish or seals, and the splashing about that people often do while swimming or surfing and enjoying the ocean signals sharks’ senses that there is a weak or injured fish nearby. These shark experts also said that an Olympic swimmer swimming in the ocean is substantially less likely to be attacked by a shark than a novice swimmer. This is because the trained swimmer has a smooth and consistent stroke while a novice tends to be more erratic, and inconsistent, and splashes more often mimicking the behavior of an injured fish.
So how does all this apply to us, believers? When we are built up in the Word of God, we are strong, we are like that Olympic swimmer, and we are less likely to be the prey of the devil. He prowls around (1 Peter 5:8) like a shark looking for the weak; looking for those fish, Christians, who are splashing about, weakened in their immune systems because they haven’t built up their spirits with the Word of God. When we allow ourselves to live life with a low Word level it’s as though we are chumming the water. What is chumming? Chumming is the process that people in the shark world do to attract sharks into the area. They place large amounts of blood and fish parts in the water and sharks can detect that from miles away and will go to the scene in a hurry thinking there is a free lunch to be had. So, the believer that isn’t built up in the Word chums the waters with doubt and unbelief, fear, worry, and bad confessions, all signals to the enemy that their faith isn’t strong and he can easily attack. It’s important that we have a high Word level in us to avoid putting things in the water that will attract the devil and his schemes.
The devil may still attack you even with a high Word level in your heart, but know that with that Word in you, you can overcome him! Revelation 12:11 says, “They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony…” Know that the Word of God in your heart is like putting on a shark-proof suit. Divers will often use these suits and they are very effective. Their design is a metal-mesh, chain-link material that covers divers bodies and is impenetrable to the bite of a shark. Sharks may bite but they can’t puncture! The devil may attack but he can’t overcome.
We are in the last days, but Shark Week doesn’t have to scare you. Be suited up with the armor of God, be built up with the Word of God in your heart, and be confident that God will protect you because you have put Him first by seeking His Word, and closed the door on giving the devil an opportunity.