How quickly I forget, what I just heard or learned years ago! It is easy to hear something exciting, then we get busy and all of a sudden, we forget what we heard. This is especially true I think, with children. They are told what to do, then they are easily distracted by something they see and now want. I find this is very true with my sweet grandchildren. I will ask them to put something away and suddenly they see a treat on the counter that they want. All that I just asked is out of their mind and they take or ask for what they want. Usually, they just take what looks good.
I Forget When I See Something I Want
Aren’t we all like this though? We hear truth or something we should do and we forget what that is, as soon as we move on to what we see and want. With my grandchildren, it is usually candy or some type of sweets or snacks. What distracts you? When you hear something that you should pay attention to, do you really pay attention and do as you should or do you merely hear the words? It is true especially when we go to church or a Small Group or do devotions. When we listen to someone godly, do we merely hear the words or do we really listen? There is a difference between hearing and listening!
I Forget When I Go Away Too Fast And Don’t Change
In this passage of James 1:22-25, James says that we deceive ourselves if we only hear with our ears but don’t do what it says. Verse 23 compares listening to the Word but not doing it to someone who looks in the mirror. A mirror is a reflection of what is in it. If we stare at ourselves, we look at the reflection of ourselves. We may like or dislike what we see in our reflection in the mirror. If we walk away too soon though and don’t remember what we looked like, this is very much like hearing but doing nothing about what we just learned. What if we looked in the mirror and our hair is messed up? We step away and we forget what needs to change. Then we don’t do anything about what needs to change, in this instance, brushing our hair! Are we gaining anything by looking at our reflection? No, we don’t gain anything by looking at ourselves and doing nothing to change.
When I Learn, I Have Freedom, I Am Blessed and I Reflect His Image!
If we however, look at God’s Word, or the perfect law, as it says in verse 25, this gives freedom! When we learn, read, and study God’s Word, we will be blessed when we do what He says. It is “hearing” and “listening” with all of our heart, that matters. It is not just the physical part of our body, the ear, that hears the sound, that matters. The Lord can sure do a lot in our life when we yield to Him. When we listen to Him, do what His Word says, then look at His image and reflect His image, we will see Jesus work in our life. Tasha Layton, in her song “Look What You’ve Done,” describes this truth well to me. The enemy(Satan) wants nothing more than to see us forget the reflection we see of Jesus and walk in light of His truth. Satan also does not want us to reflect Jesus to other people. This would influence other people to change too and he doesn’t want that either. Look to the Lord to see what He can do in you!
Key Verses
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
James 1:22-25
Another powerful reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus!!! Great post
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