The prophecy about Jesus Christ in Psalm 45:3-6, contains the statement, "Your arrows are sharp". What are the "arrows" of God? Perhaps there are many answers to that question, but these words spring readily to mind: "Now abide faith, hope, love, these three --but the greatest of these is love" (1Co 13:13).

I would like us to think about faith, hope, and love, as the arrows of God. Now arrows need at least three things. Not only do physical arrows need these three things, but the arrows of God need these things too.

An Arrow Needs a Target

The first thing that an arrow needs is a target. Without a target to aim at, an arrow would seem to have little purpose.

To change the analogy: When children play ball games, there is usually some kind of target --a wicket, a hoop, a goal square, or a target painted on a brick wall. But when children play with bubbles, they cannot do very much with them. Bubbles are nice, they are fun, but rather airy-fairy things, whereas balls are more serious and substantial things which can be propelled toward a goal. Our faith, hope, and love, must be like the balls, not like the bubbles.

If God's arrows are faith, hope, and love, then what are their targets?

In Colossians 1:4-5 we find not only faith, hope, and love, but their targets as well.

An Arrow Needs Energy

The second thing an arrow needs is energy. Without energy, an arrow would be a useless object. (We could be clever I suppose, and say an arrow without energy would be "pointless" ha! ha!). In archery, energy is transferred from the arm muscle into the bow, and imparted to the arrow by the string. Only then is the arrow any use.

Faith, hope, and love, are not just passive things. They are things that work, and work requires energy. Faith, hope, and love, are not just nouns. They have verb forms. These are action words. We can say, "I love, I hope!" They are not merely things we have, they are things we do. In English, we don't say, "I faith" --rather we say, "I believe"-- but the principle is the same. As the Bible tells us, a faith alone, a faith that does not work, is a dead faith (Jas 2:26). If God's arrows are faith, hope, and love, we should observe a living energy in them.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, we find not only faith, hope, and love, but their energy as well.

An Arrow Needs Penetration

The third thing an arrow needs is penetration. To change the analogy a little, you have probably pricked your finger with a pin or needle, but that was easily removed. Have you ever had a fish-hook lodge in your finger? That's quite a different matter! It penetrates and stays in because it is barbed. If God's arrows are faith, hope, and love, we should find them barbed and penetrating both our hearts and the hearts of the people who know us.

In 1John 4:16-17, we find not only faith, hope, and love, but their penetration as well.

Home | Topics | List | Next