God's Word is a Jedi Light Saber

This post is courtesy of my friend, Brent Vawter and his son Austin.

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Like so many other boys, Austin is a huge Star Wars fan. Lego, action figures, posters, DVDs, books, he's got quite a collection.

And whats not to love? Its heart-pounding action: laser cannons, blaster rifles, light sabers, droids, space creatures, star ships, and of course the Jedi Knights.

If you're familiar with the stories then you know the symbolism and parallels between the Jedi way (the good guys) and the Christian life we're called to live. I've enjoyed watching the films and reading the books with Austin, often using the stories to illustrate some Biblical principle in our devotional time together. This morning was one such discussion.

So bud, I'm reading in Romans 12 and 13 this morning as Paul's giving some practical instruction on how we're supposed to act. Then in chapter 13 verse 12, something stood out to me that hasn't caught my eye before. Paul tells us to put on the armor of light.

I'm thinking, Armor of light? What, we're supposed to strap a bunch of flashlights to our body to protect ourselves? What does he mean? Light is a defensive weapon? It's armor?

Austin: Is that part of the armor of God, like the shield of faith?

Hey, thats good! You're in Ephesians 6. Put a bookmark there and well come back to that.

So about this light, what exactly is that to us? A bulb and electrical source? I don't think so.

One of my favorite songs comes from Psalm 119:105 - Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So Thy Word is this light!

Austin: And Thy Word is the Bible.

Exactly! Lets write this as an equation on our napkin here.
LIGHT = WORD
(Bible)

NOW lets go back to your Ephesians 6. When Paul tells us to put on the armor of God, he doesn't mention armor of light, but he does mention something about the Word. Lets see what that is.

Yes, Ephesians 6:17 says, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

So Gods Word is a sword. Lets go back to our napkin.
LIGHT = WORD = SWORD
(Bible)

And we learned in math that if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C, right? So LIGHT = SWORD.

Dude, are you seeing this?! This is a light saber! Gods Word is a Jedi light saber!
LIGHT = SWORD
LIGHT SABER

Think about it. The Jedi use their light sabers to deflect blaster fire when they're under attack, so its a defensive weapon like Paul talks about in Romans 13. But they also use their light sabers to attack and cut through obstacles that are in their way, so its an offensive weapon like we see in Ephesians 6.

Now you'll love this. Back up a chapter to Ephesians 5:8 and we read that were called to be children of the light. God is calling us to be Jedi Knights! He's given us a light saber to protect and arm us, and He wants us to be His Jedi apprentices and study the ways of the Force!

Have you ever seen a laser go through a light saber and injure a Jedi? No! Have you seen an object too strong for a light saber to cut through? Of course not! The light saber is the ultimate weapon, but it will only help you if you're a Jedi tapping into the Force.

You know how Yoda was so powerful in the Force that he could merely point at someone and throw them across the room? Well Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 17 that if we fully understood the power of the Force, we could do more than throw someone across a room. We could throw mountains into the ocean!

This is so much better than Star Wars because its the real deal! God supplies the special effects. God's Force really is something we can feel around us, draw on when we're under attack, and use to accomplish our missions here on earth. How cool is that?!

You can imagine that this spawned a fun conversation which almost made us late for school. Our closing prayer was that we'd maintain firm grips on our light sabers and stay strongly connected to the Force today.

May the Force also be with you!