“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
do the word
When the Truth is implanted, roots grow and fruit results. It is not simply ‘received’, but it actually becomes a part of us. One who is truly born again will be transformed by the process as the Word takes root in their life. Their thinking is changed as they humbly accept a new authority in their life.
“Receiving” the word goes far beyond a mental acceptance or approval of it. If that is all I do I am of the “hearers only” group and risk a dangerous self-delusion of security in Christ. It is simply wrong to think that I have a relationship with God because I say “I believe” or “I accept Christ”, and I go to church or Bible study, and I read the Bible. I can only be in relationship with God through Jesus, and the “implanted word”—this carries with it a call to radical obedience: in heart, soul, mind and strength!
In the morning, I look in the mirror, brush my hair, and then go on with my day. I don’t continue in contemplation of what I saw in the mirror. When I have my quiet times, I try to look at and meditate upon “the perfect law of liberty” –that is, the Bible –full of grace, and its demand for obedient response to that grace. I can walk away and forget it, or I can let it take root and bring Christ into my world. Today, will I see what God intended me to be, but do nothing about it, or will I see what God wants me to be and strive to attain it?
What does a doer of the word looks like? Shocking, but true, it is not necessarily one who attends church regularly, or speaks ‘Christianese’. Outward rituals of worship can be carried out unthinkingly. But to control the tongue requires both intellectual and emotional commitment. So does embracing God’s concern for helpless people. Here also is required a practical response to those who suffer from want in the third world and inner city; those who are unemployed and penniless; those who are inadequately represented in government or law—these are the people who should see abundant evidence of a Christian’s “pure and undefiled religion”.[1] Keeping oneself “unspotted from the world”, the doer of the word is refusing to think and act according the world’s value system.
Read and Pray: Isaiah 1:13-19, Isaiah 58, Galatians 6:7-9
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