Do It, Not Just Listen || James 1:22 || Manna for the Mind #90

Welcome to Day 90 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is James 1:22. We’ll discuss doing what God’s word says. We don’t want to be a fool, right?

James 1:22

AMP	22 But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth.]
NLT	22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are fooling yourselves.
MSG	22 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are listener when you are anything but, letting the word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!

Let’s look at these three passages closely because I see different perspectives in all of them:

• Don’t just listen to God’s word. The MSG translation says we often let the word go in one ear and out the other. We hear what it says but fail to internalize what it truly means.
• You must do what it says. The AMP translation says to prove you follow the word by actively and continually obeying God’s command. We are to act on what it says.
• Otherwise, you are fooling yourselves. We can deceive ourselves into thinking we’re listening and responding to what the Bible says, but we become delusional. We follow unsound reasoning that goes against the truth of what the Bible says, leading to dire consequences.

This is where I see a considerable percentage of hypocrisy that non-believers call out in Christians and that we judge each other on. We will preach and judge others for what the Bible says, but we will fail to do or live it out daily. We’re holding others to a standard we don’t live to ourselves, creating a double standard and a judgmental mindset that we must strive to avoid. Jesus spoke on this in Matthew 7:21.

Matthew 7:21

AMP	21 ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
NLT	21 ”Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
MSG	21 “Knowing the correct password – saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance – isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience – doing what my Father wills.

Jesus is focused on our walk more than our talk. He wants us to do what is right, not just say the right thing. Jesus says we can’t say the magic words to get into heaven. What will get us there is doing what God calls us to do. For all of us, at a foundation, it’s following God’s moral law: loving him with all of who we are and loving our neighbor as Jesus loves us. God has a different path for all of us. He’s created us for a specific plan that only we can accomplish. We can find this plan through studying the Gospel, being in prayer and conversation with God, and leaning on the Holy Spirit for discernment, wisdom, and strength to live out that plan to the best of our ability.

We won’t get it right all the time. We won’t be perfect. We’ll stumble, fall, and get things wrong. People will see this journey. It’s scary. People may judge you for your stumbling, but keep getting back up. Own your mistakes. Talk about what you did wrong. Talk through your recovery plan. You’re not a fool in God’s guys for this, and that’s what matters the most.

Father God, thank you for providing the Bible as a foundation and a manual to help us live our lives how we need to. We often read and listen to it, but we rarely act on it properly in alignment with what you created it to be. Help us to live our lives according to your will and for the glory of our heavenly Father. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.