Deep Thought of the Day:  Being a doer of the Word is actually loving God.

I woke up this morning hearing this:  “Just do it, Jill.  Just do what I told you to do.”  This made me think of James 1:22, “Be a doer of the Word, and not hearers only.”  Being a doer simply means you apply what you hear to your everyday life.

Here’s James 1:22-24 in NLT:  “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.”

When I first started learning about God’s grace and mercy it seemed like a contradiction to what James talks about.  On one hand you have the verses about resting and letting God do the work, then on the other hand you have be a doer of the word and faith without works is dead.  So which is right?

They both are.  God’s Word never contradicts itself.  We are supposed to rest in God and partner with Him.  But our part of that partnership is obedience to the Word of God.  Meaning you apply the Word to your life.  It’s that simple. 

What I find most interesting about being a doer is that God actually links our choice to obey His Word with our love for Him. 

Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love Me, obey my commandments.” 

He says in John 15:10, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” 

I John 5:2-3, “We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.  Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.”

Now before you start scrolling on back to Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy for all the laws and requirements.  Remember that Jesus gave us only two commandments:  ‘”You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”” Matthew 22:34-40

The point is that when we walk in love and act in love, we are being a doer of the Word.  When we are being a doer of the Word we are being obedient, growing, maturing and loving God all at the same time.  Many birds, one stone. 

Happy Thursday!

Word Nerd Note:  The Greek word for ‘hearers only’ is akroates.  In classical Greek times akroates was used to describe people who audited a class.  (Taken from “Sparkling Gems from the Greek” by Rick Renner.)  These were people who went to lectures for entertainment. 

A Biblical example of these akroates would be the people Paul preached to in Athens (see Acts 17).  They were all about listening to what Paul had to say and learn about this “unknown god” but when it came down to accepting Jesus and living for Him, sadly they passed.

FYI:  Today’s Bible Version is the New Living Translation (NLT)