James 1:22-25 — You Got a Lil Sumthin'

 READ THIS: James 1:22-25

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Have you ever looked in a mirror to check if there was something in your teeth? The other day I was doing that because I had eaten a bunch of popcorn, and I was pretty confident there was still some shoved in my teeth. But, as I was looking in the mirror,  I started talking to someone and totally forgot about the grossness wedged between two of my teeth in the top right of my mouth. I might as well have just not looked in the mirror at all, because the same thing happened. Whether I looked in the mirror or not, that popcorn stayed where it was. James doesn't want us to do that with the Bible, the "word." When we do these devos, we want to be looking for ways that God can change us. We want to read with a purpose, not just to say we did it. I could tell people I checked my teeth, but if there's no evidence of it, then a) other people will think checking one's teeth is pointless and b) I'll still just have that popcorn in my mouth.  The same goes for seeking after God. If we're reading just to say that we read and our lives continue to look the exact same as a nonbeliever's, then a) nonbelievers will think that pursuing God is pointless and b) we will be living the exact same life that leaves us just as empty as before we tried to seek God. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. When's a time that you've read ANY book, Bible or otherwise, and realized you had NO idea what you just read when you got a few pages in? What do you do to avoid doing that?

 

2. In the verses above, what is a clear action step that you can take away? (What's something James tells us to do?...I find the clearest answers to this question in v22 and v25!)

 

TRY THIS:

Put down your action step from question 2 in your agenda or phone calendar for tomorrow, and try it for that day!