Today's Devotional Thought
September 11, 2012 by Rachel Piferi
Doers
I am more excited than I can even express today because today is the start of our ladies' Bible Study at our church. Wendy and I are facilitating Beth Moore's James study with our Bible study ladies. And I am so ready to get started that I can barely contain myself!
In preparation for this study, we have been reading through the book of James each day in different translations. It is so fascinating to read the slight differences between translations and in doing so, I have really gotten a fuller view of this book.
Today, I want to share with you one of my favorite parts of the book of James. It is the first chapter and it is verses 22 through 25. In the New Living Translation, it reads like this:
22 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
I love how the Amplified Bible shares verses 23 and 24:
For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.
And New American Standard reads:
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 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; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 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 will be blessed in what he does.
I have absolutely loved James 1:22 for quite some time. And this time around, it continues to really strike me.
Don't just listen to the Word. Do what it says.
Oh how I know how easy it is to get caught up in a sermon or swept away by a meaningful praise chorus or really convicted in a Bible Study and then pack up your Bible, get in the car, and walk back into your old way of doing things. There have been many moments in my past where I have thoughtfully observed myself and then left the conference or sermon or study and promptly forgotten what it was that I needed to change and become.
The success of any Bible Study, any sermon, or any conference is that we leave changed. We feel convicted in the sessions and we actually change our behaviors as a result of it. We become doers of the Word and not just hearers. Oh what a powerful difference we could see in the world if we were truly doers of all Christ asks of us and not just hearers.
Oh how I get so excited to start a new study. And the book of James is one of my favorites. I cannot wait to see what God has waiting for us in the pages of this book. And I cannot wait to see how I can grow even more in my doing.
Not just hearing and learning His Word. But doing!!
December