Wednesday 29th June 2016 - Daily Reading:
James 1:19-27 - Listen and Do
In this passage, James is writing about the importance of being people that don't only listen to the word, but also do what the word says! So often we can fall into this habit of being hearers, but lack in the doing! James is very clear, not only here but also later on, that it is vital that our faith has action!
James says that those who listen to the word, but don't do as it says are deceiving themselves! He then goes on to say that those who hear the word and don't do as it says are "... like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."
James is saying that it is important that we give careful attention to the word, and act on it. I guess there are two ways to look in a mirror. One way, is to assume that everything is OK, and that we are looking great, and so we might have a quick glance. However, in only having a quick glance, we may miss something that needs attention. We will just carry on with things as they were, forget what we looked like, and not dealing with the thing that needed attention.
Alternatively, we could stand at the mirror, look carefully at every detail, see the things that need our attention and sort it out. Then, when we go and leave, we don't forget what we look like, as we have given it our careful attention and dealt with the things that need dealing with.
The same can be said with the Word of God. How do we treat it? Do we just give it a quick glance from time to time, assuming everything is OK, and never see the things that need to be dealt with? Or do we give the Word of God the attention that we need to give it? When we give it attention we need to, we may find it shows us areas in our lives where we need God to deal with us, and so we can come to God and ask him to help us.
And so let me encourage you this morning... don't be like the person who looks in the mirror and forgets what he looks like, but be like the person who looks intently into the mirror, and who puts right the things that need to be put right!