JAMES 1:22-25 ACTIVE LISTENERS

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Every student in a classroom is exposed to the same lecture, yet not all of them learn the material presented. Likewise, if a man is told to do something and then does not do it, did he actually hear it? How can anyone know if there is no action to confirm it? How can we know if we heard correctly unless we do whatever we thought we heard and receive confirmation or correction? If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make any noise?

The Word of God is the eternal truth about God and our relationship with him. It is also a word of action. In the beginning God spoke creation into being and spoke order into the creation. At the perfect time, God spoke redemption into the fallen creation and offered the word of forgiveness and salvation. The only way we can be reconciled to God is by listening to him and acknowledging his word of grace. However, we need to act on that word in order to fully live into our reconciliation. None of us has perfect hearing in our fallen state. Our ears are filled with the noise of this world, the background buzz of sin and the accumulation of the grime of wrong teaching. The only way that we can know the truth is by acting on what we hear and allowing the Spirit to guide us according to the truth. If we listen only and become self-assured in our own knowledge we are certain to fall into following a god of our own devising.

We are all like ships on the water. As long as we are moored to the pier, we can allow the pilot onto the bridge, and even have him move the tiller, but we do not give him any control. It is only once we cast off the ropes and begin to move that he can steer us according to his perfect will.

Lord, make me a hearer who listens and acts on what I hear from you. Open me to your guidance by empowering me to humbly act on what I hear from you and accept your correction so that I might know your perfect will. Amen.