It’s easier than ever to be a hearer of the Word, isn’t it? From books to podcasts to livestreamed worship services, we have access to a constant stream of information about God. Here in Claiborne County, Mississippi, we have over 60 different congregations serving a little less than 9000 people. So with a church right around every corner, everyone can conveniently gather with fellow believers to learn about the Bible.

Yes, we can all easily hear God’s Word, but are we putting it into practice? For as one of my professors in seminary made clear, the problem we have with the Bible isn’t the parts we don’t understand. No, the real problem is believing and applying the part that we do understand.

For we know that Jesus and Moses told us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30). But isn’t it easier to be carried away by our own lusts (James 1:14), to live in filthiness and wickedness (James 1:21), doing whatever seems right or feels good to us?

Moreover, we know that Jesus told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who mistreat us (Matthew 5:44). But instead of “bridling our tongues” (James 1:26), isn’t it easier to become angry (James 1:19), to hurl verbal abuse at those who hurt us, either to their face or behind their back? And isn’t it easier to keep to ourselves instead of taking care of the orphans and widows, the most vulnerable of the people around us (James 1:27)?

But James will not allow us to go on in such half-hearted religion (James 1:26). No, he insists that those who hear God’s Word but refuse to put it into practice are deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). He warns us that claiming Christ as our Savior without also bowing the knee to Him as our Lord means missing the whole point of the Christian faith. In fact, without putting our faith into practice, we can’t even claim truly to know ourselves (James 1:24).

So, today, let’s not just hear the Word of God. Let’s follow Jesus, obeying His perfect law of love. For in that way, we can be sure of receiving His blessing (James 1:25).

James 1:18-27 (NASB)

18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.
19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
27 This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.