A friend of mine who wants to remain nameless has been writing a weekly devotional for his family. He asked if I would read his post a few weeks ago and I asked if I could use it on the dC blog. I pray it would encourage you to not just be hearers but also doers of the Word.
Big Livers – AKA Doers
The Lord has been pressing me lately in the area of being a “liver” of the Word and not just a hearer. James 1:22 says it pretty clearly “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
What is reading? What is listening to a sermon? What is memorizing? What is study? What is asking in prayer? They are all vain and useless if we are not stepping forward and doing what God’s word says; if we are not applying the truth to our lives and allowing our loving Father to work it in us.
In Luke 10:25-36 We see Jesus being asked an important question “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus instantly turns the man to the Word of God “What is written in the law?”
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and ‘your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus goes on to tell the story of the good Samaritan. The priest, Levite, and the Samaritan all had access to the Word, they all knew the “greatest commandment” but only one truly performed that which was commanded. “He had compassion” on the man, he loved his neighbor as himself.
What is Jesus’ punctuation to this whole interaction? “Go and do likewise”. Don’t just know what the Book says. Don’t just know who your neighbor is. We must do, perform, practice, live!
Jesus echoes His statement later in Luke 11:28 “But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
Living the word of God is not burdensome for the child of God, for they have the Word Made Flesh dwelling within them. We have a promise that if we keep the Word we shall be blessed. Our Heavenly Father will never give us more than we can handle. We must be faithful with what we have been given and that includes truth. The calling as a Christian is impossible to live out of human strength but with God all things are possible. May we go and “live likewise”.
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