Becoming Doers of the Word!

In this passage we see that James uses word pictures and illustrations to show us the necessity of putting the Word of God into our life. That the Bible affects how we feel and how we are, and when we know this, we can then allow it to transform us in all that we are and do. When God's Word transforms us, we can then be better with how we live and treat others.

James is telling us in order to be a "doer of the Word," which means to put into practice the precepts of our Lord, we have to rid ourselves of the rotten filth in our lives. That is, the evil in us must go before we can sincerely be humble and obedient to the Lord and grow in Him. Just listening to the Word and then doing nothing with it is total foolishness. It conveys the stupendous stupid-ness of our mindsets. We will be missing out on what God has for us and replacing it with foolishness at best, and with unadulterated evil at worst. In either case, we are being disloyal to God, throwing out prime opportunities, and wasting what He gives us. The solution to the problem of evil and willful disobedience, as well as to a meaningless life is to receive His Word. We must be willing to let God's Word affect, as in influence us deeply, our achievements and purposes because of who He is and what He is doing in us! When we are receiving His message, we are more likely to obey Him and live a life of Christian distinction and purpose, and to give God the glory.

We can take it to our heart, mind, hands and feet that God's Word is the powerhouse and platform for our salvation. His Word conveys His Truth and precepts for living and doing the Christian life. Yet, it can easily be thwarted simply by our refusal to acknowledge Him as LORD, and allowing our human waste of sin to be in the way of His Way! God's Word is strong enough, but God usually does not override our will once we are saved (our will is overridden from His Spirit testifying about Jesus so we will have faith to revive the faith: John 3:3-6; Rom. 5:4-5; 8:14; 8:26-27; 1 Cor. 12:3).

We are told by God Himself that the Implanted Word is the message of God conveyed through His Bible. In Stoic philosophy, this is called "innate reason," meaning either we are born with it or we can reach within ourselves for it. For the Christian, it means we all have His Word in our hearts and we reach for it as it comes from God (Psalm 119; John 17:17; Rom. 1:2; Eph. 1:11-14; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; James 1:18; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). The call is to take His Word, allowing Him to plant it in us just like a gardener would plant a tree, then allow our efforts in Him and the work of the Spirit to grow the tree of our faith in order to produce the Fruit in our lives that will impact others around us (2 Pet. 1: 3-11).

James uses the illustration of a mirror, it was a handheld piece of polished bronze and was very expensive; only a rich person would have one (1 Cor. 13:12). The image is that the Bible is a mirror to our souls-who we really are in motivations, desires, outcomes, and character! That looking in a mirror and then forgetting what we look like is foolish, as is reading the Bible and not doing anything about what it says. James is telling us that an effort and determination is needed to apply the precepts of our Lord into a life that is Christian. The word "Christian" means more than just a professing belief; it means following Christ; it means being like Christ, manifesting His qualities which are demonstrated, when we are like Christ, by our obedience and what we do. Saved? Yes, perhaps; but as James will say later, what good is that faith if we do nothing with it?

By the way, this is a great passage to memorize!

Questions to Ponder

1. How can the implantation of God's Word in you be easily thwarted?

2. What blocks you from adhering to God's truths?

3. Why, at times, are we not willing and able to receive them?

4. How does putting up barriers slow down or stop our growth in Christ?

5. What are the barriers for you?

6. God's Word is the powerhouse to the Christian life. How has this been so for you? How can it be more for you as you put into practice the precepts of our Lord?

© 1984, 2006, Rev. R. J. Krejcir, Ph.D., Discipleship Tools www.discipleshiptools.org/