Numbers 17-18; Psalm 55; Isaiah 7: James 1
This morning I had that little inner nudge to write again after being quite ill for several weeks. While I have kept up with my daily reading I let my writing go, but it is time to get back to considering what I am reading and thinking about what God is saying to me through His word. I have been using the excuse for the past week that there is so much I need to catch up on so as soon as I finished my reading time I would start to work on those things that have gotten away from me when my energy levels were so low. I think a little Martha crept in to my Mary heart. Oh, Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needful and Mary has chosen that better thing-to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His word. (see Luke 10:38-42)
How timely then is the first chapter of James and these verses in particular hit me hard this morning, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 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; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 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 will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25, NASB. You see it is when I take this time to consider what I have read that I move from being a hearer of God’s word to a doer. There is something that takes place in my heart and in my mind that leads to action through the rest of my day. How many times have I sat through a sermon on Sunday morning and thought what a good word was being brought to convict and spur me on to good works then come Monday morning I struggle to even remember what was said? That is why I take notes during sermons-to remind myself of what I all too quickly forget.
When I was homeschooling our boys I developed a routine with them where they would come and talk to me about what they had just read or studied. Research in education has shown that this retelling step is an important part of learning-of taking the information you have just acquired and placing it into longer term storage in the brain. I guess that is why I find this process so helpful to my life-you see at the heart of it I am really writing for my own benefit. This is my first step to becoming a doer of God’s word.
Grace, peace, and mercy,
Debra