But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
~ James 1:22
I remember growing up in my house as a child and thinking that I must have been the only one who had parents as I did. I heard, “Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that. Don’t drink this. Don’t drink that. Don’t go here. Don’t go there. Don’t say this. Don’t say that. Don’t listen to this music. Don’t listen to that music.” Do you get the idea? I lived in a house with a bunch of don’ts.
On the other hand, I also lived in a house with a bunch of “Do this and do that.” Since I was a fairly rebellious child, I’m sure that I made each day a house of horrors. I can remember my mother telling me many times to clean my room. She would say, “If you’re going to live in my house, you need to clean your room.” To me, this meant shoving everything possible, including any leftover food, under my bed, where it was invisible to my mom.
Eventually the smell of decaying pizza would force me to find and destroy that food. But for a quick clean, under the bed was perfect. You see, part of being in a family is to uphold your responsibility. I did that by utilizing the “under my bed” system. Eventually, that no longer worked because there was no more room left to shove things under my bed.
What does this have to do with anything today? Well, my mom told me to do something that would reflect that I was a responsible member of the family, and I decided to take the easy way out and not do it. I just covered it up and tried to fool my mom. Somehow, I think she knew that I would eventually find the pizza and give it a proper burial in the trash.
All I did was to fool myself into thinking my room was clean.
Hear the word
You can’t do it unless you hear it. James tells us to hear the word. The way we hear the word is to read the word. The word is Scripture. How much time do you spend reading and studying God’s word? Sometimes we approach this subject as something boring and monotonous. Honestly, the only way we can do the word is to hear the word. The only way we can hear the word is to open it and read it. The Lord wants to speak to us through His word.
There were many things to do at my house, and I heard my mom ask me to do. I was also not the one who would clean my room because I was the good child. I was not a good child. My mom told me what to do many times.
Maybe today is a good day to think about how you hear the word. Do you listen to podcasts? Do you listen to specific speakers who talk about God’s word? Do you read God’s word? Reading doesn’t just mean reading. Reading means meditating and studying the word, so you will have a good understanding of what God wants you to do.
Do the word
You can’t do it unless you read and understand it. So once you know it, do it. I know it sounds easier than it is. And for many of us, doing the word is a scary thing. It means that we will act, talk, and think differently. I understand that we are “set in our ways” and have a sense of pride that is difficult to overcome. But if we are going to do what God wants us to do, then we have to put our pride aside. We cannot be controlled by our old nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Remember, when someone places their trust in Jesus, their lives are changed forever. And those who genuinely love Jesus and have made that decision to follow Him will demonstrate that love by doing what Jesus asks us to do.
Do you do what Jesus says, or do you shove the things under your bed and expect Jesus to be happy with our halfway response.
A prayer
Lord, doing your word is so difficult because I’m pulled in so many directions. I desperately need your help. Will you please help me to read and understand your word so that I can do what it says? I want to honor my relationship with you. I want to love others as you love them. I want to help others as you give me the opportunity. Lord, you are not only my refuge and hiding place, but You are my strength when I’m running on empty. Help me to be and do what You’ve asked me to do.