Daily - 12/31/08

James 1:22-25

22 Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.

24 He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.

25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.

As it says in verse 22, we are called to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Sometimes I am much better at the understanding than the doing. That’s not right. We are called to act on God’s commandments, not merely understanding them. Understanding is great, but if I don’t act, the flesh is winning out over the spirit.

John 3 is quoted so often about the nature of Christ’s mission on earth – down to the guy with the rainbow hair holding up a John 3:16 sign at football games. But one quote I almost never hear from John 3 is this:

John 3:36

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

Christ himself states that disobedience is the opposite of belief. I’m sure that I had read this more than a dozen times before it really sunk in with me. Obedience to God and acting on his commands aren’t a result of belief, they are belief, by Christ’s own definition.