Suddenly, one of the men appeared and fell against my car begging me to help him.  As a young woman warned never to pick up strangers, I hesitated.  Immediately, a verse of Scripture flashed through my mind. “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25: 40, KJV). I unlocked the door and told him to get in.  I knew I was close to a hospital.

It’s easy to forget reading God’s Word or hiding it in our hearts.  There are negative consequences to this.  There are also positive consequences to being faithful in reading or memorization.

Negative consequences include lack of sensitivity to opportunities to make Christ known, to serve God and others, to honor God, or neglecting the Holy Spirit’s major tool to guide or counsel us.

Positive consequences in fulfilling this discipline are sensitivity to God’s will, opportunities to share the light by testifying on Christ’s behalf or for service to God and others, being able to balance truth and love (a discernment issue), or possessing the Holy Spirit’s major tool.  What is that tool?  It’s included in the armor of God provided to protect, guide, and enable us to battle effectively: “And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6: 17, NASB).

As a young and new Christian, I experienced a remarkable and astonishing incident of the Holy Spirit using His sword in my life.  It was January 1962 and it was a bitterly cold St. Louis Saturday night.  My father, a Postal transportation clerk who sorted mail on train mail cars had asked me to drive him to the train station.  I dropped him off at Union Station and began my return trip home.

Driving through a neighborhood I frequently had driven through taking him to work, I came to where two men were fighting in the street and couldn’t get around them.  I finally was able to pass but circled around looking for a police car normally present in that area to report the fight.  Suddenly, one of the men appeared and fell against my car begging me to help him.  As a young woman warned never to pick up strangers, I hesitated.  Immediately, a verse of Scripture flashed through my mind. “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25: 40, KJV). I unlocked the door and told him to get in.  I knew I was close to a hospital.

Driving to the nearest one, City Hospital, I smelled alcohol on him and asked him who the other man was. He replied: “I don’t know and my wife doesn’t know.”  He was inebriated, not making sense.  We arrived at the Emergency Room entrance; I helped him in and then parked the car.  As I sat there, a doctor came to me asking if he was shot or stabbed.  Surprised, I said I didn’t know.  Couldn’t they tell? The police came and questioned me; I told them what I limitedly knew.  They said I might be needed to testify later.  At that point, I blurted out I couldn’t stay, as in a couple of weeks I was leaving for Columbia, South Carolina to enroll in college to study in preparation for missionary service.

I left and went home, very late and somewhat shaken.  Telling my mother, who was worried about me due to the late hour, what happened, she exclaimed: “You shouldn’t have stopped or let him in the car.”  I responded explaining the passage of Scripture God brought to mind.  She wasn’t convinced.  The next morning, before leaving for church I heard on the news that an injured man was picked up by a “Good Samaritan” and taken to City Hospital. Going to my car parked in the street, I noticed frozen blood on the right fender where the man fell against it.  I often wondered what happened to him and whether a trial took place. I was never contacted.  I also wondered if he might have died had I not gotten him to the hospital when I did.

I cite this experience as one in which a Christian could be in doubt and refuse to help a stranger late at night out of safety concerns—especially as a woman.  In such circumstances, discernment is greatly needed.  The Holy Spirit immediately came to my assistance wielding His sword, the Word of God and bringing the appropriate biblical passage to mind.

It’s no wonder Matthew 25: 40 is embedded in my memory with such an extraordinary experience.  This represents one example of the positive consequences of reading and memorizing God’s Word.  It’s the very tool, and perhaps the only tool, the Holy Spirit may use to aid or guide us in extraordinary or conflicting circumstances.  The Word of God is “the sword of the Spirit, “ God’s provision when our faith or life is challenged.

As I write about this incident, in my mind it’s like it happened just yesterday or a week ago instead of almost 60 years ago; it is that vivid in my memory bank.  Perhaps it was God’s deposit in that bank to remind and encourage me to never cease reading or memorizing Scripture, His precious and holy Word.  I confess, I’m better doing the former than the latter.  The interest on that deposit has enriched my life greatly. In these past almost 60 years, God’s Word, that “sword of the Spirit, has often provided untold opportunities, blessings, and protection from harm.

As we prepare to leave home or our comfort zone, never leave home without putting on one’s God-given armor.  It’s for our benefit, for our blessing, and for our security.  “Don’t leave home without it!”

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.