If My People… Would Actually Do
Just Talking About the Word Isn’t the Same as Doing the Will of God
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. - James 1:22
There’s a lot of people who believe they are doers of the word because they are hearers. Sometimes they think that they’re doers of the word because they talk about how everybody else needs to be a hearer. Nothing wrong with that, people certainly need to be hearers, but if you’re not a doer yourself, you’ll start running into trouble.
The conservative movement that I’ve been a part of now for two decades, has a lot of Christian conservatives who love to talk about Jesus, they love to talk about the Bible, and at about any political event, you’ll hear it said “If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and repent and turn from thei wicked ways I will hear their voice and heal their land - And it’s all true!
But just because everybody knows that you’re a hearer does not necessarily translate spiritually that you are also a doer of the word.
Some of you that have been in this movement with me can probably point to yourself or to a dozen other people that you’ve known in this movement over the years and say GUILTY!
I can certainly point to me.
I’ve been more and more convicted about this where I’m concerned. There are many ways the book of James teaches us about how to adjust so that we are actually doing things that matter for eternity.
However, one verse that I have found incredibly convicting in the last couple of years and that I believe is a universal gauge that can help indicate if you are a hearer only or a doer of the word is 1 John 4:8 -
“He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.”
How does that make you feel after working in politics for a day you might wonder?
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I can tell you from my experience that there’s not a lot of love for people when you’re working in Politics. It doesn’t matter if you are an elected official or if you were some high-ranking famous grassroots figure. You may soon come to realize just how little you measure up as you begin to realize just how close or far you are from God. it’s hard to have love for people on your side of the aisle let alone the other side in that line of work.
One thing is for sure, if I don’t have the love of God in me and show it to others, I’m more likely a hearer of the word regardless of what I’m “doing.”
What it means to love is a whole series of lessons that I’d love to get into just to share what I’ve learned and how I’ve been convicted as I read about it from my Bible and meditate on it.
Tomorrow when I go to church, I’ll be going expecting to hear and then do.
This isn’t a little thing. Jesus tells us the world to see what we do so that they might glorify our Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)
Here’s your challenge: if you had to rate yourself in terms of your walk with God on a scale of one to 10. What would it be? What would you immediately start doing to bring that score up to 10? It’ll require you to do something. Where does your effort to love fall on this equation? Just think about it.
A good place to start is always hearing the word. Find a church that preaches the word reservation and be there tomorrow morning.