The exit in our small, gated complex is on a curved street. If a vehicle is coming from the left at more than the speed limit, seeing it means waiting for there is no time to drive out before it is too close. Last week, I drove out one day without looking. Dangerous. I heard a horn and my rear-view mirror revealed how close I came to getting hit. Duh.
Today’s devotional is about something just as dangerous. It is about looking into Scripture, hearing what it says but not doing anything about what I read. Duh and dangerous both.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (James 1:23–24)
If I looked in the mirror and my hair was messy, it seems logical to comb it. If I saw spinach in my teeth, it seems wise to brush them. If I had dirt on my face, or forgot to put on make-up, or managed to draw one eyebrow thicker than the other . . . well, the illustration is plain. Looking in the mirror is useless, even foolish, if I see a problem and fail to correct it.
The next few verses add more to this thought by showing what I would miss, and what anyone might realize by looking intently:
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:25–27)
MacArthur says that those who look intently into the Bible can be serious students, yet there are some seminary professors or Sunday school teachers are not true believers. Some even write commentaries and other Bible reference works. I know this is true. He adds that my response to the Word — not my depth of study alone — is the issue here. What is the point of reading it without responding to it, particularly for those who claim to be God’s people, in His kingdom and members of His forever family?
Jesus, in the parable of the sower, said this: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” (Matthew 13:19) That makes sense. Even reading other books that make no sense to me are easily forgotten. However, as a believer in Jesus, He gives understanding, assurance, and conviction of sin through His Word. He shows me His will for my life and when I read it, I get it, but if I walk away without responding, that is disobedience. He does not take away the grace of eternal life, but I will miss the blessing of doing His will.
This danger is for me, but also for those who do not know Jesus, is deception. Reading the Bible, even seeing sin, does not mean a person is saved. If there is no response, no repentance, no change because of what is seen, then any idea of being ‘religious’ is worthless; they have been deceived.
Being lied to is a huge issue for me. I’ve had it happen and been fooled by those did it, fooled and deeply injured. That deception is bad enough, but to deceive myself and think I am okay regardless of what God says would be the worst deception of all.
PRAY: Jesus, protect me from lying to myself. May Your Spirit always push me to truth, even if that truth stomps on my pride and hurts my ego. I know the damaging power of lies. Imagine looking to the left, seeing a car speeding out of the corner of my eye, and telling myself that it was not there so I could pull out of the gate without any danger. How dumb that would be. May You always make clear to me that what You show me is vital and must be obeyed. I don’t want to come to ruin, not do I want to mock Your Word.
READ: Matthew 13:1–23. What happens to the soil representing one who hears and understands? What is missing in those who hear but the results are not enduring?
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