One of the most painful things to witness in a brother or sister in Christ is their willful ignorance and disobedience to God’s Word. Seeing their sin and watching their disobedient choices made time and time again can make you feel helpless in their struggle. Your heart can become heavy and burdened for others as you cringe at the news of disastrous consequences they’ve endured from poor decisions. You can point them to the Living Water, but you can’t make them drink. You can take them to God’s Word, but you can’t make them obey. You can speak wisdom to their situation, but you can’t make right choices for them.

There are many things we can’t do and can’t control, but James tells us some things we can do in James 1:21-25:

“…In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.”

In humility we are to receive the implanted Word. In order to receive, something has to be given or offered. Receiving implies action on the part of the recipient. If I extend my hand toward you with a hundred-dollar bill, you have to reach out and receive it – otherwise you don’t have it. But we have something much more valuable being given to us! We have God’s Word!

And how does James say we are to receive God’s Word? With meekness. We are not to respond in pride and say, “I don’t need to hear this!” Meekness means softness of temper, mild, and gentle. It implies humility. Yet oftentimes, we sit in church listening to a sermon and immediately think, “if only so-and-so were here to listen to this message!”

We need to humble ourselves and realize the “implanted word”, as James says, is “able to save your souls.” James is not implying the loss of salvation – as he is writing to believers. He is describing sanctification: a continual, life-long process of being made pure, set apart, holy, complete, and lacking nothing. Once again, this points to the precious value and extreme worth of God’s Word and how mighty and powerful it is to impact our life and work in our hearts – if only we would be humble enough to receive it.

So many times, we read a passage or hear a message and we are unaffected because we didn’t have “ears to hear.” We only heard what we wanted to hear. We only read what we wanted to see. We read a blog post, listened to a podcast, participated in a bible study, but we didn’t do anything with the truth that was presented. We failed to act on what we heard and read. That’s why James says, “Prove yourselves doers of the word.” “Doers” implies you taking responsibility. You deceive yourself when you only listen to the Word, yet fail to apply it to your life.  

James tells us Scripture is like a mirror. How so? What does it show us about ourselves? The mirror of God’s Word shows us what’s lacking or needing changed; the Bible reveals the areas in our life that need addressed.

If you see the truth about yourself – by hearing the Word and reading the Word – and you choose not to act on it, you walk away with a hardened heart.

Ultimately you were unwilling to see who God showed you. The Bible describes this as forgetting. You hear the Word, but you do not obey it; therefore, you forget. You forget the conviction; you forget what God’s Word said about you and your sin. You were unwilling to act on the conviction; so that message fell on deaf ears. You may have had worldly sorrow when hearing and reading God’s Word, but it did not result in godly sorrow. You weren’t moved enough to address your sin and change your actions.

I immediately think of David and Nathan. Nathan showed David who he was as a sinner in God’s eyes (2 Samuel 12:7). And David was convicted and he confessed and repented and it changed his life (Psalm 51).

We cannot walk with God and refuse to obey Him at the same time. The minute you choose to go your own way, you separate yourself from God. Think of Adam in the garden. Man was in close relationship with God, and then sin entered in and God says to Adam, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).  Adam chose his own way, and he became separated from the intimacy he once had with God.

We are not blessed in our disobedience. We are blessed when we do the Word (James 1:25). When we hear and respond, we’re blessed in that action and response of obedience to God.

It’s good to know the facts and hear the truth, but we need to act on it! That’s where the rubber meets the road. We can see this illustrated in so many areas of our life. Think of your physical health. You can read all the health books, listen to all the medical experts, and purchase all the workout videos you want. But unless you change your eating habits and do the work of exercise, you will miss the benefit and blessing of that knowledge. The same can be said regarding your finances. You can read all the financial articles, listen to all the money experts, even talk to financial advisors. But unless you take financial responsibility, you will miss the benefit and blessing that comes in that discipline.

It’s easy to read the Word. It’s easy to hear a sermon. But it takes a humble and willing heart to set aside fleshly desires and choose instead to obey God. We feel like we’re struggling when we go against the current of God’s Word, but as Elisabeth Elliot said:

“A whole lot of what we call ‘struggling’ is simply delayed obedience.”

What is God calling your attention to right now? What areas of your life need to be addressed? Is there a “Nathan” in your life who is trying to help you see your sin as God sees it? Is there a recurring theme you find as you read and hear God’s Word? As you look in the mirror of God’s Word, act immediately on the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Don’t walk away as a forgetful man. Don’t just hear the Word and remain unchanged. Be a doer of the Word. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28).