May 29, 2024 -- James 1:22 -- More than just hearing

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22 ESV

Anyone who knows me knows I am pretty useless in regards to putting things together. A memorable misadventure would be a case in point. My wife and I bought a TV stand which had a place for a storing movies and the player. The box it came in touted the fact it would take minutes to assemble. Ahem.

Well, I know I am very poor at assembling things, fixing things and so on. No matter. I didn’t start by reading all the instructions. Oh, that would have made too much sense! Instead I took a quick glance at the picture and scanned through it, very quickly. Then, after about an hour of intense frustration, I looked at the instruction manual—it had instructions in Asian, German, French and English. The English instructions might have well as been in that Asian language because I was too frustrated to read and put into action what I’d read. I perked a pot of coffee, Started free. I read through the instruction manual. Then I got to assembling it.

First one had to count all the pieces. One had to distinguish between various kinds of screws and inserts. At the start that seemed like really dumb advice. But, as I separated these items, I realized where I was going wrong. I was using the wrong sized screws at various pre-drilled holes and this was making the whole unstable. It was not until I read the instructions and put them into practice that the TV stand finally came together.

Dear fellow Christian, how often isn’t that the case with us as believers? We charge ahead, having scanned the Word or rushing ahead after half-heartedly listening to a sermon, thinking we know what is right only to find we have not even been using the right discernment for a situation clearly laid out by the Bible. We weren't prepared to truly hear. Instead we'll hurry along on our own without truly hearing the Word and putting it into practice.

God our Father has great love and mercy for His children. He has made the way to Himself open through the accomplished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself teaches us how to yield ourselves to our Father in heaven so that our lives are put together exactly as our Father wills for us. He Who rescued us in Christ, knows our stubbornness and our inclination to go any which way but the right way. He provided the way of restoration. The Spirit of God will take the Word and make it living for all who ask Him. Perhaps things are more difficult in our lives right now, harder than they should be, because we are hearing the Word, not really listening, but doing our own thing?

Father in heaven, Your Word teaches us “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God Who gives generously to all”. We confess our need for Your wisdom and the need to have our heart cracked wide open by Your Spirit so that we will hear of the new life that is ours in Christ and then obey His instruction. Thank You, Gracious Father, that “every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down to us from the Father of Lights”. Amen.

The quotations in the prayer are from James 1:5, 17

https://youtu.be/aH1Wn4fTiBs?si=-VqsdfX-1M118MmG “Speak O Lord” Getty Music

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