Friday, March 8th
Author: Dan Pervorse
Church: Church of the Vine

James 1:22-25
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James calls us to “look intently to the perfect law that gives freedom.” This is not just a simple gaze but an intentional focus.

At home I have one of those mirrors that is normal on one side and is a magnifying mirror on the other. It’s the kind that when you look into you can see every detail of every blemish, wrinkle and pore on your face. It’s so intense that if you look close enough you think you can almost see through the skin to what’s on the other side.

The Word of God is such a mirror to the appearance and structure of our souls. Its design reflects to us the emptiness of our person without the working of God in our lives. When we gaze intently into God’s Word and don’t allow it to bring about change, we are merely hearers. It is so easy to read it and be touched deeply, but then to walk away and remain unchanged. For when we remove ourselves from the proximity of the message, it is the equivalent of removing the mirror and we no longer see the need for or feel the desire for the change that the message brought.

The Word must call me to action. I must not sit idle. I must act according to what I have read or heard. God’s Word does not allow me to be unchanged or unmoved. I must follow its provocation to action for and by the power of God in me.