DOERS OF THE WORD

“But be DOERS of the WORD, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” – James 1:22

It is not sufficient to be a Hearer, Reader, or Student of God’s Word; we are called to be DOERS of the WORD (Jam.1:22). To be a Doer of the Word means to put into practice what you hear and read from God’s Word. Are you a Doer? What’s your response when you hear His Word preached? Do you endeavour to implement it in your life, or do you give a big Amen and merely go your way?

How so often we hear the Word preached from the pulpit and say, “Amen, I really hope Brother X or Sister Y was listening. They really needed to hear that.” We often think the Word applies to everyone but us. This is the better attitude: “Lord, Is there something you want me to get from this? Is there something you want me to do?” The Word of God only benefits us if we put it into practice in our daily lives: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Heb. 4:2). The Word of God only profits us if we mix it with faith, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jam. 2:17). Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Mt. 7:21).

Many believers have not imbibed a business-like attitude to God’s Word. They may read the Word daily, have Bible studies weekly, and meditate in the Word occasionally, yet fail to give heed to what God says. Like a businessman, the Lord will return one day and demand that we give account for what we did with His directives; whether we obeyed as Doers of the Word or merely heard. James gave an analogy of a person looking in a mirror: “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” (Jam.1:23-24). It’s so easy to see and remember imperfections in others but how easily we forget the imperfections we see in ourselves. We can hear a message preached from the Word, God clearly speaks to us and we walk away and so easily forget what He revealed to us.

The word “observes” in verse 24 refers to a glancing look in the mirror that fails to respond accordingly. We may see something God is requiring of us but with just a glancing look, we quickly forget all about His instruction or simply rationalize it away, never getting around to putting into practice what he instructed. Oh, that we’ll cease being forgetful hearers: “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 is blessed on what he does” (v.25). The word for “looks into” (parakypto in Greek) means: to stoop over and look into, to gaze carefully by the side of, to peer or to peep into, to bend over for close look, investigation and examination of something. This is not a passing glance as in verse 24.

In John 20:5-8, John who arrived at Jesus’ tomb ahead of Peter, cast a passing glance at the scene without quite grasping what had happened. Peter however looked, scrutinized, and took careful notice of everything he had seen. Thereafter, John went back in “and he saw and believed” (Jh.20:8). If we will learn to look into, examine closely, gaze carefully into, and investigate the Word of God, we will pave the way for others to see and believe. Let’s not simply give God’s Word a passing glance. When we look intently into the Word and put it into practice, we will be blessed in all we do. We will also pave the way for others to see as well.