TEXT: JAMES 1:22-25
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 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. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
To James, the only acceptable attitude toward the word, is a blunt and practical disposition whenever we are confronted with it. A man must endeavour to do whatever the word of God asks him to do...he must be a doer! He Must go, when the word tells him to go: come, when instructed to come...the obvious injunction of scripture must be religiously adhered to.
Doer of the word, that is what matters here. A hearer of the word must translate into a doer by deliberately practicing whatever he hears of the word of God. As a woman, if the word says you should submit to your own husband, then submit! Find out what it means to submit and stay submitted and submisve...then you would have become a doer of the word.
It is so beutiful that the word of God is simple to understand. Different translations abound, even in our original dialects. These numerous translations aid the saints to mentally and spiritually grasp the wordings and injunctions of the word of God...also we have preachers that are simple in the delivery of their sermons, who strive to keep their grammatical structures pure and devoid of any double interpretations. With these, we can clearly know what God would have us do.
The theology before us is simple: hearing alone is not enough: hearing and doing what is heard is highly commendable. Hearing alone without a corresponding action amounts to self-delusion. He deceives himself, who prides in knowledge acquisition without utilising what he knows. Paul says not the hearer but the doer of the law is justified before God.
How we deceive ourselves when we hunt for knowledge with itching ears but fail to live out what we hear and know. Knowledge is to be used not to be archived!
Every saint must address this matter before God: for this is the most deadly trap set by the evil one for this generation into which the more part of us has fallen. No generation is so blessed with knowledge and insight like this generation yet few do the word of God. No doubt, ours is a company of men whose insights and utterances are so vast like the ocean, yet not many practice what is seen and uttered!
So glorying or boasting in insight and knowledge is one thing and practicalising what is known is quite another thing. Let us not be hearer alone but doer as well. This is the only acceptable approach and disposition toward the word of God! God told Elijah to go and show himself to Ahab and He, God, would send rain: God did send rain when Ahab saw Elijah. Simple instruction! Friends, the word of God is simple and not irksome...even he that runs can grasp the contents. Do what you hear and see! This is all that matters! To be continued.