PUT THE WORD INTO PRACTICE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

James 1:22-25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The best life instruction manual ever written is the Holy Bible because it’s the only book written by the Lord God Almighty. And since the Lord is perfect right and just in every way, that means every word written in His divine scriptures is true and trustworthy.

In other words, anytime we seek counsel from God’s Word, we can be totally assured of its integrity and validity.

Now, like any other set of instructions we might need to follow, success doesn’t come by ready what one is supposed to do and then deciding to do something else. When this happens, recipes result in ruin and things constructed fail to function as designed, just to name a couple of common examples. Nothing becomes what it was intended to be when directions aren’t followed to the tee.

This principle also applies to our spiritual lives as we look at today’s passage from the first chapter of James. There, he writes this:

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Vv. 22-25

Through His holy Word, God wants to lead His people to right and righteous living, to be more like His Son Jesus, the One He sent to be the Savior of the world. But it’s not enough to read or hear the Word of our Lord. We have to put it into practice or as our scripture passage demands, we need to:

“Do what it says.”

Note that this is a demand, not a suggestion. It doesn’t say, “I think it would be a good idea if you did what the Bible says” or “I recommend you read and listen to the Word of God and then put every part of it into practice”.

No, the Bible, the inerrant word of our God orders every single Christian believer to”

“Do what it says.”

Emphasis on the “Do” part.

James likens someone who doesn’t carry out what the Word commands to a person who sees themselves in the mirror and then immediately forgets what they look like when then go away from it. In other words, Lord wants us to be a reflection of what His scriptures call us to be. When we sit down our Bibles and walk away, our lives are to mirror the kind of person He wants us to be, the person who has looked “intently into the perfect” Word of God with its laws and regulations for living, and then carried out that Word in obedience. As a result, the Lord will “bless” that Christian believer “in what they do” because what they do will be in accordance with His scriptures and therefore pleasing in His sight.

The call today from our God is to make sure His Holy Word is put into practice. My prayer today is that this message will be a reminder for you to do just that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.