March 13, 2022 AN EFFECTUAL DOER
James 1:23-25 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.”
There is a tendency for us think that knowledge is the goal when it comes to the word of God; if we know the word, we are good and God is pleased. The verses above dispel any idea that knowledge alone is sufficient. (Certainly, knowing God’s word is very important; we are to grow in the knowledge of God.) God gave us His word so that we might know how to live-His word may be considered an ‘instruction manual’ for life. Of course, before we become doers of His word, we must come to know Him as our Savior and Lord; we don’t come to know Him by doing, we come to know Him because of His grace toward us, drawing us to Himself. James refers to the ‘perfect law of liberty;’ this perfect law refers to the teachings of Jesus as well as the Old Testament writings; the believers who were a part of the early church did not have a bible as we know it. The New Testament is a collection of God-inspired letters that were distributed and passed along to the believers. Just as we forget just what we look like once we stop looking in the mirror, when we stop looking into the word of God-stop valuing the word- we forget who we are-we stop living out of our true identity as believers. When one “looks intently at the perfect law” and abides by it, he is blessed in what he does. Let us take this simple, straight forward message from James and be doers of His word, not hearers only. The word of God was given to show us the way of life-how to live.
Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Luke 11:28 “He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
John 14:21 “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed