Do The Word

Ian Revie

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!
James 1:22 (MSG)

I don’t know about you but I probably have listened too much to the news with doom & gloom about conflicts in Ukraine, Israel, Gazza, the Suez canal blockade from the Yemeni Houthi’s, and endless food shortages and political disruption across the world. I have taken to stop listening to the news, but is this the answer?

I do a lot of auditing of other peoples work and I learn that, when you audit a task, you take in lots of information, but you don’t do anything with it. You don’t do any work, you don’t turn it in to get it reviewed. You don’t take the tests. And you don’t get any credit either.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. You don’t get credit for auditing Scripture. You’ve got to put it into practice. Every word of Scripture must be translated via obedience. The distinction between knowing and doing.

James writes:

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!
Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God - the free life! - even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action.
That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
James 1: 22-25 (MSG)

So what does this mean for me?

I look at what is going on and, where I can, I need to apply Gods word to that situation, with my neighbours, friends, people around me, engage where I can and make a difference – ‘Do the Word’, be salt and light.

However it is more challenging with politics, food shortages, war and political disruption.
God asks us to pray - ‘Do the Word – by praying’. We can help through a number of charities, through our own Church giving in time & resources, but we are asked to pray:

God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it.
Psalm 145:18 (MSG)

God doesn’t bless you because of what you know, but because of what you do about what you know.

So each time you come across a verse that tells you to do something, put it into practice that day and together we can pray a difference into the world around us.