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by Logan Ames

I took my wife out to dinner recently for Valentine’s Day. For the second time in four years, we chose The Melting Pot to celebrate our love for one another, and as we got the bill and were reminded of why we’ve only been there twice in four years! It’s a wonderful place, totally worth the price and I would recommend it to anyone, but it’s easily more than three times the cost of a normal meal when we go out to eat. We had a great time and the food was amazing, but I can assure you that we made sure to eat every single thing they brought out and I did my best to drink every ounce of the water and Diet Coke on my side of the table because we were determined to get our money’s worth. We had already paid for it all, which meant that if we didn’t use it, we would lose it!

James tells us that if we are not careful, the same thing will happen to our understanding of God’s Word. In James 1:22 he urges us, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." God’s Word is a gift that has been given to us and as we saw in last week’s post, the previous verse says that gift is “planted in you." The more we hear and understand God’s Word, the more it takes up residence in our hearts and minds. But there’s still another step. We can know the Word and still choose to do the opposite of what it says. When we do that, eventually even the implanted Word within us can’t do anything to help us. We become like the “hypocritical liars” mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:2 because our “consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."

If you think about the people you know in your local congregation or churches you’ve visited, it’s fairly easy to see that there are many people who are satisfied with simply coming to a worship service each week and hearing a good message from the Word. Maybe this description fits you; I’m certain that it fit me for a very long time. If you’ve been in that rut, then you know that it’s based almost entirely on emotion and walking out of church feeling good, but there are no actual concrete steps being taken as a result of the message. With no changes and no steps forward, you’re left with waiting until the next time somebody can make you “feel” inspired with another message that you HEAR. And the cycle keeps repeating itself.

James’ older brother, the Savior of the world, talked about the clear difference between those who merely hear His words and those who actually put them into practice at the end of His famed Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:24-27, He explains that those who DO what they have heard Him say are “like a wise man who built his house on the rock” and found that it was able to withstand the storms because of its strong foundation, while those who hear his words and do NOT put them into practice are “like a foolish man who built his house on the sand” and found that it was destroyed when the storms came. The interesting thing about Jesus’ words there is that the houses don’t necessarily look any different. They both look strong and beautiful, but the truth is revealed when the storms come.

The same is true about Christians who attend church and hear a great message. We may not be able to tell the difference between someone who does nothing about what they’ve heard and someone who puts the message into practice right away. But when the trials come, that’s when the rubber of faith meets the road of life and we can see who has a firm foundation of living according to God’s Word and one who does not. That’s why James specifically says we are deceiving “ourselves” when we refuse to do what the Word says. We’re not deceiving God; He knows the truth. And while we may be able to deceive others for a short time, they will eventually see the truth when life’s hardships come our way. So, the only ones we are truly deceiving is ourselves!

Charles Spurgeon once said, “I fear we have many such in all congregations; admiring hearers, affectionate hearers, attached hearers, but all the while unblest hearers, because they are not doers of the word." If we want to be blessed by what we hear and understand in Scripture, we have to USE it. Otherwise, we’ll lose the chance at that blessing. James continues that someone who doesn’t do what the Word says is like someone who studies himself in the mirror but then walks away and can’t even remember what he looked like (James 1:23-24). When we look into the mirror, we generally don’t just give it a passing glance. We want to make sure any necessary corrections to our appearance are made, so we study the picture a little more intently. James is saying that even those who study Scripture and put it under intense scrutiny might still only be hearers of the Word. You can be a Bible expert and still not really do anything with that knowledge.

When you look in the mirror, how much of your time is spent admiring yourself? Someone who is looking to get the most out of life will likely want to DO something about their appearance, versus someone who doesn’t really care and accepts things the way they are. Likewise, reading and listening to God’s Word will reveal some things that need to change in your life, and you have to decide whether you care enough to change them or if you’d rather stay the same and ignore God. James finishes this section by explaining that Jesus has brought a perfect law, and anyone who looks intently into it to the point of doing what it says will be blessed (James 1:25). Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), but He is the Word who became flesh, which means He is the perfect embodiment of the law. And His law is one of liberty. It IS indeed a law, but it’s a law that breeds freedom for those who pay attention to it and follow it.

Have you been hearing the Word for years and never really changed anything about your life? If so, have you noticed the general lack of power to help you live the Christian life? Your foundation has been shaky and even though you thought you had a good understanding of God’s Word, it didn’t really help you when the storms came. The good news is that it’s not too late to start living according to this Word. It might be difficult to make some major changes, but it’s not impossible and the Holy Spirit will help you. Let us go forward speaking out God’s Word not only with our voices but also with our deeds.

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