But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. James 1:22-24 KJV
The Context:
James was a practical disciple; this book is full of practices and processes for all who will follow after God to obey Him. The book of James addresses trials, tribulations, tough times, the power of faith and the place of works, the power of the tongue, the wisdom of God and the power of prayer. Today's extract is about the power of the Word of God and the expectation of God from my life as I seek to respond to the Word.
God places great stock on a man's readiness, not just to read, but to also obey the Word of God. It is not enough to devote time and resources to building up your knowledge base about what God says. Some 'men and women of God' can quote copiously from the Bible, but their private lives are messy before God. Men see and applaud the outer devotion, but it will be the greatest mistake for a man to rely on human approval as the basis of acceptance by heaven. Men say that the voice of the people is the voice of God. I am yet to find a single instance where this is true.
The Message:
The blessing is not linked to hearing, but to doing. So many people hear; in fact, the Bible is one if not the most published book these days. It has been translated into several versions and is even available on handheld devices at no extra cost. If salvation and eternal life were by downloads, so many people would have secured their places in heaven already. However, with God, it takes more than a few clicks to download heaven; you have got to be serious about obeying what you have downloaded, so that your upload to heaven can be sure, certain and secure.
Oh, there are great blessings to hearing the Word. It is the seed of all that God can do in a life. The parable of the sower shows that the seed of great harvests is in the hearing of the Word. Nurturing, weeding, watering and protecting the ground will be exercises in futility if there was no seed to target. It is important to hear, as this is also the root of salvation for men. But it is not enough; what follows after hearing is equally as important. That is why hearing alone is presented here as self-deceit. How does God prove the quality of my hearing, if my life has no public declaration that aligns with my private hearing? How does God trust me with His treasure when He cannot even get me to put into practice the things He has shown me over time?
A picture of the folly of just hearing and not doing is presented in today's extract: you look into a mirror because you want to know how you look and what you need to adjust. You have indeed looked, seen the areas of interest, but as soon as you turn your back to the mirror, you forget completely what you have just seen, and can't remember what it was you needed to address. Considering how much time we spend in front of mirrors, this may sound silly, but this is the truth about the human condition. If it is not subject to the dictates of the Spirit of God, ready to listen and eager to obey, that life will be popular and may even be applauded, but heaven has no record of that life. Do I really want to end up being rejected by God as a hypocrite? Would I want to sacrifice eternal life with God for a life of false fame and imagery?
The Response:
The devil knows the power of hearing, which is why he will always start his attack at the point of hearing. Why was the first attack of the seed start by the wayside? If the devil can succeed in preventing to seed from getting into the ground, he won't need all the efforts of the other types - shallow ground, thorns and the good soil. It also shows that even when the seed makes it into the ground, the devil will not let go and will continue to fight, looking for ways to prevent the seed from fruiting. Even when the seed has borne fruit, the devil knows that there will be another planting season and will wait for any opportunity to prevent the next set of seeds from getting into good soil. It is a never ending cycle and as long as the devil is given power over the systems of this world, he will keep working. Why is it difficult to sit through a 30 minute message, yet we can watch a two hour movie without feeling drowsy? We need to know and identify the work of the devil, so that we can resist him.
The Word of God is the mirror; as we hold our lives out to Him/it, He/it shows us what is missing, needs addressing, needs surgery, and what needs strengthening. Nothing else will tell you the truth about the hunan condition like the Word of God: a double-edged sword, able to pierce so deep even unto the dividing of soul and spirit, and can cut so fine between joints and marrow. I must not fool myself into thinking that I can escape the searchlight of God's Word. I can choose to ignore its warnings, but it will speak. The choice of response, as always, is mine to determine, but the consequence of the response is eternal. You don't want to miss the mark; the secret is in hearing AND obeying. There is no OR in between. His time of favour is here.
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