Do what the Word of God says
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. James 1:22-25
We all know that lots of things can go wrong with our faces! And we depend on mirrors to tell us what is wrong. But what would you think about a person who looks, sees something is wrong and then fails to correct it? You would say that there was absolutely no point in that person looking in the mirror. Looking in the mirror only works if it leads to taking an action, otherwise, it is useless. With this in mind, we must say that there is a lot of useless looking in our churches. The Word of God, like the mirror, does its work. We look into it, and it tells us the truth about ourselves. And then the responsibility rests squarely on us! Are we going to correct the problems, or are we going to ignore them? Are we going to act on the Word, or are we merely going to walk away? What does the Word of God reveal to you when you look into it? Does it tell you that your prayer life is not what it ought to be? What are you going to do? Does it tell you that you are harboring bitterness and resentment towards a brother or sister in Christ? What are you going to do? Does it tell you that you are not as diligent as you should be about the time you spend with His Word? Does it tell you that you are not as faithful in attending worship as you should be? Does it tell you that your love for Christ has grown cold?
How do you respond? Are you going to go on as you have been? Or are you going to take action? The Word of God commands us to take action! It tells us not to wait for a feeling, but rather to begin to deal with those things that it has revealed. There is no more urgent business before us than addressing those matters in our lives which the Word of God has called to our attention.
Blessings