Free Bible Commentary
“James 1:22-25”
Categories: James“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 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 will be blessed in what he does.”
---End of Scripture verses---
While we must be quick to hear the word of God (verse 19), let’s make certain we’re not “merely hearers” but also “doers of the word” (verse 22). It is illogical and delusional to think that we can hear, believe and even love God’s word, and yet refuse to obey it and still be blessed by it. Jesus said in Matthew 7:26-27: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
The living word of God prompts us to take an honest look at ourselves and to make necessary and righteous changes. If we regularly read the Bible and refuse to do what it says, instead of blessing us it will convict us of sin and make us miserable, and prompt our conscience to forget what we’ve read. That’s about like looking in the mirror and seeing dirt in our hair and food on our face, and then shrugging our shoulders, walking away and just forgetting about it. To hear a Bible lesson and not have it pierce our hearts and transform our lives is about like taking a quick, meaningless glance at a mirror.
We are greatly blessed by God’s word when we “look intently” into it and “abide by” its principles and precepts (verse 25). Read the Bible with great interest, as if your life depends upon understanding and obeying the message, because it really does. The word of God (specifically the New Testament) is “the perfect law” (verse 25). Through it God perfectly reveals to us everything He wants us to know and do to make us spiritually complete and right in His sight. It is a “law” that we must obey but it gives us “liberty” from the bondage of the sin that enslaves us.
I am a “forgetful hearer” but not intentionally and rarely from negligence. I just forget things easily. That’s why it is particularly important for me to “look intently” and linger long in the word of truth. I want to make certain that I retain what I have read and that I am an “effectual doer” of the word so that I will “be blessed”. Remember the words of Jesus: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25).
Please read James 1:26-27 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
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