Doing the Word of God

“For it is not those who hear the law that are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” – Romans 2:13

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 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, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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. – James 1:22-25

God’s Word is our manual for living. We are called to study and meditate of God’s Word so that our lives are transformed from the inside out. The knowledge of God’s Word and the application of it in our personal lives are crucial. The Word does us no good if all we have done is memorize the scriptures and we have ignored the application. What good does it go when we rattle off the scripture verses and our lives reflect the complete opposite of the image of God?

God is not moved by what we know but by how we live. He does not look at the outward display of our faith but rather at our hearts. It is easier to be a hearer than it is to be a doer. But sadly, unless we do what we have heard it has no effect on our lives. In order to tap into the power of the word, we have to apply the truth in God’s word diligently in our lives. God’s word is power – there is no doubt about that. But it is very possible to know the word and have no significant power in our lives because we have refused to do what the word says. When we demonstrate our knowledge of the word through speech alone and there is no action to back it up, we deceive ourselves.

Jesus has set a great example for us on what it means to be a doer of the Word. We have all the direction we need. It’s time to follow His example and start to practice what we preach.