S = James 1:19-27
19 Know
this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,
slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the
righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and
rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able
to save your souls.
22 But
be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 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. 24 For he looks at
himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 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.
26 If
anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his
heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is
pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows
in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
O = This instruction (v. 22-25), regarding the importance of
doing the Word (application), and not merely hearing and forgetting it, is
sandwiched between two short paragraphs of easy to understand instruction. The God
uses the mirror of his Word (the Bible) to reveal areas that still need to
change in our lives. Verse 19, is great relational advice for us, but its
context is that of how we should receive and respond to God’s Word—be quick to
hear it (listen attentively), slow to teach it (let it change you first), and
don’t get angry (confess readily) when it shows you what needs to be done. Further,
our anger doesn’t fix things the way God wants to fix them. Verses 26-27
connect the obedient application of God’s Word to the actual words that we
speak to others. Do our words conform to his? Or do they reveal that we are not
allowing God to transform us from the inside out? Does my faith in Jesus change
how I interact with the world? Doing the Word requires us to participate in the
Mission of God to the voiceless and powerless…but his way, not mine (See my
blog post “Leaf Blower”).
A = So what am I to do with this passage? I will be quick to
hear the Word, even the embarrassingly revealing word that for all my faith and
study, it is worthless if I speak unlovingly to my wife, kids and coworkers. If
all that God gives me in time, talents, and treasure (unavoidable
alliteration?) is invested for myself and what is mine, then my faith is false
and I am only worshipping myself, or God for what I can get. What am I good at?
What brings me joy without regret? How can I use it in showing love for the
Lord by loving his people? Am I being trained by the Word of God to deny myself
for the sake of others, or am I merely being stained by the world’s selfish
attitudes and aspirations. These are the hard questions I must ask myself this
week.
P = O Lord, let me not shut my ears to your instruction
today. Let me not play games with you, but walk out my surrender to your love
on a daily basis. Change me from the inside out so that those around me can no
longer deny your presence in my life. Like the first apostles, I may be
“uneducated and a common man”, but let people be able to see that I have been
with you. You love me—that very thought is enough to transform my whole outlook
on life as I learn how to respond to you. O Lord, align my life to your heart
day by day. Amen.
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