Daily Devotional – Friday, January 13, 2023
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 1:22 (KJV)
The final year students were excited. A renowned motivational speaker had come to teach them how to pass the upcoming exam. After speaking for fifteen minutes, he introduced his book, saying it contained the magic formula for acing exams. You shall have seen the students scrambling for the available copies!
The Magic Book
In the days that followed, an interesting trend unfolded. All students read the magic book keenly. One group of candidates adapted some of the strategies into their original plans. The other lot read the magic book more than textbooks and revision guides.
When the exam results came out, the first group had performed better relative to the second one. It became evident that there was a marked difference between reading a book on how to pass exams and implementing the contents of the book effectively.
Hearing versus Doing
A similar challenge exists among Christians according to James. He writes, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22). Like the students who read the book on how to pass exams but failed to study for the exams, Christians can have a knowledge of the Bible but fail to live according to the teachings of the Bible.
In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus addressed this issue in the Parable of the Two Builders. Those who hear and do the words of God are like a person who built a house on a rock and it withstood a storm. Hearers who refuse to live by the gospel truth are like a person who built a house on sandy soil and lost it during a storm.
The Benefits of Hearing and Doing
No amount of church attendance, reading the Bible and listening to sermons will suffice if we do not practice the teachings of Jesus. As James intimates, such an attitude is tantamount to lying to oneself.
Interestingly, when we practice what scripture teaches, we become wiser and more productive in both spiritual and earthly matters. Apart from glorifying God, we stand to gain more by being active Christians as opposed to being mere hearers.
Become as Doer, not Just a Hearer
What steps will you take today to become a doer of the word and not just a hearer? A good starting point would be to ask yourself, after every encounter with the word of God, “What is God telling me? How will I practice what I have learned?”
Prayer
Dear God, show me how to become a doer and not just a hearer of Your word.
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