The Mirror of God\'s Word

Scripture:  James 1:22-25 - But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

God used various metaphors to describe His Word.  In the book of James, He used a mirror to illustrate His point.  How often do you see your reflection of the real you in a mirror?  Why do we look in a mirror?  We look in a mirror most often to check our appearance and to see if there is something that is wrong with how we look.  If something is wrong, we want to fix it.  If we don’t fix what we see, we are like the man in James 1:23-24 who saw the problem but walked away.  The Word is like a mirror that shows us what is wrong in our sinful heart, ways, or behavior toward God.  The Word exposes us for who we really are.  From the Word of God we can see our sin as God sees it.  

When we walk away without realizing we have a problem or without fixing our problems, we are deceiving ourselves.  (James 1:24)  James presented two kinds of images of a person. (1) A hearer/doer of the Word will be blessed by God. (James 1:25)  (2 ) The other image is a person that hears the word but doesn’t apply it to his life.  He walks away in disobedience to God’s Word.  He deceives himself, and he won’t be blessed by God according to James 1:23-24.  James emphasizes that a true believer wants to hear/do/obey God’s Word.  The true heart of a believer wants to also internalize God’s Word in his daily walk/decisions.  The challenge is – How do I hear the Word and walk in victory?  God has equipped us with His Word.  (Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.) The Word judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Also, the Word convicts us of our sins.  It’s critical that we be honest with God as the Word shows us our sins.  Then we can repent of our sinful habits.  We won’t feel hopeless, fearful, angry, guilty, condemned/depressed.  If someone is a hearer but not a doer, he will fall into the enemy’s trap.  When we internalize God’s Word in our heart/life by obeying it, we are able to walk in power because of the Word and the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.)  We have to remember that God has equipped us with a divine nature.  (II Peter 1:3-4 -  As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.)  Also, we have Christ living in us. (Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.)  Now you will have to choose which image you want to be reflected on your life – (1) to be a hearer/doer of the Word or (2)  to hear and not obey the Word and deceive yourself and not receive God’s blessings.

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father:  You see us for who we are – our sins and shortcomings, but you also see what we can become through a personal relationship with Your Son Jesus Christ when we obey Your instructions from the Word.  Please help us to always abide in Your Word – even when it convicts/cuts us – that we may walk in victory.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

(by Min. Robert Williams)