Thursday, January 23, 2025
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25
Be A Doer
Knowing what the Bible says is a great resource for Christians, but if you want your life to be changed by Jesus Christ, you have to apply God’s Word to your life. You have to live out what you know, walk the Jesus way and step where the Spirit steps. It takes work, sacrifice, and diligence, but to not apply what we know is to waste the valuable instruction that God has provided us with His Word.
In the verses above, James speaks of two different men, one who looks quickly at himself in the mirror and goes away and forgets what he is like. The other man looks intently, and he is changed. One looked at himself and “goes away” without lasting results. One looks “intently” and is transformed. One man looks at “himself” and the other at the “perfect law of freedom.”
The Word of God is like a mirror as it reflects what is taking place in our hearts. It shows us areas in our inner lives that need to be cleansed. A quick brush with truth will not produce lasting results. A fleeting vision of what God wants us to be will not produce character. Our tendency is to quickly forget what we do not like in ourselves when we come under the steady, pure light of God's truth. We want to turn our heads from reality and go back to our selfish ways.
Some of us has heard it all our lives. We have grown up in church, going to a worship service every Sunday, Bible Study and VBS. But the practical side is, are we "doing" the tasks? The truth of our lives is revealed in our acts of doing. Jesus speaks of hearing and doing as a "wise" man in Matthew 7:24 - One who acts upon the word of God and thus builds upon the rock-solid foundation. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
As long as we obey our own passions and emotions and desires, we are nothing less than a slave. It is when we accept the will of God that we become really free- free to be good, and free to be what we ought to be. His service is perfect freedom, and in doing His will is our peace.
The Word of God is not meant to be a forced code of external rules and regulations. It is our living power that enables us to find true freedom. But crucial to everything is our attitude toward God, His Word, and our spiritual appetite. If I have the right attitude toward God's Word, it becomes a living power in my life. Do I love His Word? Am I eager to obey it? Am I anxious to forget what I don't like as soon as possible? Do I make His Word my daily delight?
The Word of God roots itself like the seed in our hearts. If we water it, it grows to be a part of our nature. It becomes a part of our thinking, emotions, and decisions. When we are living out God’s Word in our lives, not just telling everyone what it says, we can reflect Christ to the rest of the world. We can show others Christ in our lives, His power in our lives, and the transformation that we have experienced because of Jesus and His Word.
