Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 13 & 14; James 1; Amos 8; Luke 3
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Hearing the Word of Jesus comes with responsibility. Sometimes people don’t even listen closely when they hear the Word and the enemy comes and steals it away.
Mark 4:15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Others hear the word and are positive to it, but don’t obey. This is what the Bible calls deceiving our own selves. Self-deception comes from hearing what God says but either not believing it or not doing it. For instance the person who says that they do not sin is self deceived.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
For a true believer this makes perfect sense. However, the believer who hears the word and doesn’t do it is just as deceived as the person who says they have no sin. Have you ever done it? Have you read your Bible and had the Holy Spirit show you something in your life that does not line up with the Word of God? As you think about it you say that you need to change and you confess your sin to God. Then you forget about it and the business of life just takes up all your time and it is gone.
James 1:23-24 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
The word is like a mirror to show us what we really look like before God. When a person looks at themselves in the mirror, they can see what needs to be done. Maybe the hair needs combing or the face needs shaving. Maybe the face needs washing or the teeth need brushing. The mirror helps to bring change to the person because they can see the need.
The Word is the same. The Word of God shows us what God wants our lives to be. As we obey the Word, the Holy Spirit will work in our lives to change us and make us look more and more like Jesus Christ.
When we read the Bible, let’s not forget what God says to us. Let’s do the Word.
In Christ,
Rody
