James 1:22-25
Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I don’t know if you do this or not, but sometimes when I watch television, I see and hear what is on the screen, but it doesn’t process. Often the problem is that I am distracted… trying to do something on my laptop or talking to my husband… and sometimes I fall asleep! Thank goodness for a DVR! I can back up and play the program again to get what I missed! And I have to do this quite often, it seems!
We have a bad habit of hearing God without really hearing Him… or as this scripture passage puts it… hearing and forgetting. We don’t internalize what God is saying to us and take His words to heart. God tells us what to do… how to handle certain situations in our life… which path to choose. But if we are not listening carefully and obediently, we might just as well be asleep. We do not have the luxury – or crutch – of a DVR with God. When He talks to us, we are expected to listen – and listen well. It’s not that God doesn’t offer second chances… He often does! But God wants us to hear what He is saying the first time… and He blesses our attentiveness and obedience to His word in amazing ways.
Let’s redouble our efforts to listen to God. Work hard at not only hearing what God is telling you… but remembering and acting on His word. Obey His message… and live in the blessings of a life that reflects compliance and respect for the perfection of God’s word. Make it a priority in your daily living to hear what He has to say – the first time.
©2012 Debbie Robus
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