... the text for June 27, 2020

Accept ... the sword of the spirit, that is, God's Word. - Eph. 6:17

The comments make this interesting point:

But we must learn to use it skillfully when defending our beliefs - or adjusting our own thinking.

 This "sword" is not an offensive weapon, meaning that we don;'t attack other people with it. It's clear from the comment above, that it is used in three ways: to teach others about Jehovah, to cut out wrong attitudes and, thoughts, and to defend ourselves against the influence of the world, ruled by Satan. (John 5:19)

To use this "sword", we need to wield it every day. That is, to read it. I participate in meetings in American Sign Language (ASL). The public talk I watched today made this wonderful point:
The speaker showed us a picture of a "Play" and "Pause" button. The "play" button was green, while the "pause" was red. So, he pointed out that the green means to watch the Bible verses, and then "pause" was to stop, and meditate on what you have just seen.

I encourage you: Don't read the Bible like it's a novel you have to burn through to get to the end. Stop occasionally to let your eyes rest, and let your brain think about what that scripture said about Jehovah. Think about how Jehovah deals with imperfect humans. Think about how different characters in the Bible felt about Jehovah or how they worshiped him.

If we do this often enough, we will be able to wield it skillfully, recalling scriptures that apply to different situations or when making important decisions. Doing this will help you improve on learning what Jehovah thinks about a matter, as that is more important than your own thinking on a matter.

John 17:3 explains just how important it is to take in the knowledge of Jehovah and conform to His way of thinking. I encourage you all to continue in your efforts and you will be the happier for it.

Stay safe!