Be doers of the Word not hearers

We are studying the Book of James at our church. And James tells us some very important things about faith. It’s a great book, only five chapters, and I would recommend that you sit down and read it this week.
If you read a chapter a day, you can read the book in a week. Anyway … James says several things about faith: 1) if your faith is real, you will personally accept God’s Word. That means, when we read the Bible, we accept everything it has to say to us. Everything. It’s like this, when you go to someone’s house, usually there is a welcome mat at the front door. That means they are going to welcome you into their home.
Many times people say, “Make yourself at home.” And that’s what we need to do with God’s Word … allow God to make Himself at home in our lives by reading and receiving what the Word has to say to us.
2) We must practically apply God’s Word. James 1:22 says: “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” This means we are to listen to the Word and then do what it says. The most frustrating thing for your pastor is for you to listen to the message and then go home unchanged. Too many people hear the message and they have no intention of doing what the Word tells them to do.
Real faith is not simply taking notes on Sunday or filling in blanks on your listening sheet, or simply listening to the message. Real faith is obeying God’s Word, applying it to our daily life and living out what we believe. And we need to properly appreciate the Word of God in our lives. James says it’s like someone looking in a mirror and then turning and going away and forgetting what he saw.
See … real faith is more than a quick look. More than reading a few verses before you start your day.
It’s looking deeply into God’s Word and seeing your faults, your sins and your needs and then asking God to change you by coming in and taking control of your life.
I know each one of us fail to live up to what God wants for us.
So here’s my challenge to you: read one chapter of the book of James each day for the next 30 days. You will be able to read the book about six times. And then underline every verse where you see you need to live by or every verse where you need to change something in your life. And then pray about it and tell God you’re going to start doing what His Word tells you to do. And you know what … you will be blessed.
God loves us and He wants what is best for us and if we will seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, and pray and do what He tells us to do, He cannot help but bless us and then we can be a blessing to others.
Remember, God loves you just like you are. But He loves you too much to leave you like that.

Pastor Thad Gifford is lead pastor of the Crossroads Community Church of Madison County, 62 E. Second St., London. He can be reached at (740) 852-7800, e-mail him at sermon8er@aol.com or at their website www.3c-church.org.