James 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Exposure to the Word of God is a tremendous blessing.  So many people do not have any access to Scripture.  However, just having or even hearing the Word of God is not enough.  The Bible was not written to only inform us but transform us.  The true blessing for our lives is when we compare our lives with the teaching of Scripture and then make the changes that are necessary.  

OBEY GOD’S WORD WITH REMEMBRANCE: Obedience is one of the first things that our parents tried to teach us and we tried to teach our children.  The reason for that is obedience is vital to the well-being of the family and society in general.  As important as obeying parents and other authorities might be; it pales in comparison to the importance of obeying what God has revealed to us in His Word.  Going to church, hearing and reading the Bible are all great practices and disciplines of the faith; but they are not sufficient.  Far too many people are deceiving themselves or being deceived by Satan into thinking that church attendance and Bible reading are enough to please God.  Just the opposite is true.  Knowing the Word of God and not following the teaching we receive sets us up for harsher judgment.  We must compare our lives with the perfect teachings of God’s Word and then make the changes to be aligned with God’s standards to the best of our ability.  This will be a life-long process, and we must be intentional about remembering the areas we are working on to become more like Christ.

OBSERVE GOD’S WORD WITH PERSEVERANCE: Every time we are exposed to God’s Word we must pay very close attention.  James compares it to looking into a mirror and looking at the details of our appearance. We cannot be passive listeners or readers of Scripture and expect change to occur.  We must observe God’s Word closely, identify the changes that must be made, strategize a plan of attack for changing, and then persevere in following and adjusting that plan.  There may be some immediate results but there will be setback along the way, so perseverance and patience are required.  The Word of God is perfect, we are not.  We will never “arrive” in any area of our lives but that does not mean we should stop studying God’s Word and striving for growth in dependence on the Spirit.

APPLICATION: Thank God that we have God’s Word available to us in our languages.  Read attentively and pay close attention every time we have the opportunity to study the Bible or hear it proclaimed.  Identify areas of our lives that must be changed and then be intentional about planning how to make progress.  Never give up on our striving to grow into Christlikeness.