Hearing the Word of God is the catalyst to obedience (Rom 10:17). At the same time, the Holy Scriptures do not benefit us in the area of holiness if we only hear, but do not act upon what God says. This is why James cautions us, “But be doers of the Word, and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves” (v22). To neglect the Word of God is to injure ourselves (primarily spiritually). To reinforce his warning, James uses an object such as a mirror to illustrate this truth in this way, “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.” What is James attempting to convey? A few thoughts for our prayers and meditation:
- Mirror’s portrays us as we are and reflects our own image.
- Mirrors are apart of daily life, as we use them for various things. Their primary function is to remind us what we look like, which is the reason we go before them multiple times a day.
With that in mind, we can better understand James’s message to us. A person who looks into the mirror to see their own image and then quickly forgets what they looked like, is also like a person who hears the Word of God, but fails to obey it in faith. Further, we often use mirrors to make minor adjustments to our outward appearance, but in like manner, the Word of God is used (by the Spirit) to make transformative changes into our hearts thus confronting us internally and demanding a response to what He says. Christ is our model of faith as he is the Author of it.
To hear Sunday sermons, attend Wednesday night Bible studies, and engage in daily devotional reading of the Word, but then fail to pursue in obedience what it commands is like a person who forgets their own reflection in the mirror. Such a person loses their way (i.e., identity) because they fail to address the blemishes and defects they are being shown in the mirror, just like a person who ignores what the Word of God that shines heaven’s light on our hearts. To do this and believe this attitude is acceptable to God is to deceive ourselves. This is not what God wants for his children, for he sacrificed his precious Son on the cross that we may share in his holiness. Only those who practice righteousness in response to his Word receive true blessings from God (Rom 2:13). Amen.
Blessings,
Dr. Jason S. Price, Th.D.
www.springoflivingwaters.com