You should be doers of the word and not just hearers; because otherwise you deceive yourselves (James 1:22)
A church has a new pastor who preaches the same thing every Sunday. When the complaints started, he said to the congregation, "I will preach new material when you have done what I have said many times."
The pastor's statement reminded me of the words of the Apostle James, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only" (1:22). As followers of Christ, we must put into practice what we learn.
Michael Baughen, a speaker at a Bible conference in England, stated, "James wants you to have holy faith put into practice in the world." Baughen points out that there are some people who, even though they are involved in church activities and regularly give offerings, never care about others. "The world calls him a hypocrite," he said. Of course, a service that is just bullshit will not fool the world. James says that we really are fooling ourselves. Our faith is truly “pure and blameless” when we prove it through service to others (verse 27).
Baughen laments, "At funerals, I often hear people say 'He's never done a crime,' to the point where I want to scream, 'Has he ever done anything good?'"
Some Christians are only slightly better off than the "no harm" inhabitants of this earth, because they are just listeners. But there are also those who are successful witnesses, because they are both hearers and doers of the word.
It's not enough to just study God's Word. Practice it! -- JEY
YOU WILL NEVER REALLY LEARN THE WORD
UNTIL YOU PRACTICE IT
* Take from Daily Reflections