So we can recall it quickly when we need it. The words take up space in our hearts and minds, and when trouble comes, when we need to offer encouragement to a friend or when we need the words to whisper a quick prayer, we have the words! As a teenager, a mentor gave me the passage, James 1:22-25, to memorize. I put it up on my mirror and read it everyday.

James’s warning in this passage to believers in the early church is just as important today as it was when he penned the letter. 

 To the modern reader, the illustration seems silly. But it was an ancient proverb that many of James’s readers would have recognized. The mirror, mentioned in the passage, is known as something that is used to improve your appearance. Imagine it this way: you walk into a bathroom, quickly glance in the mirror and notice you have a big piece of lettuce in between your two front teeth. Now you walk away without removing the lettuce. You see it, acknowledge it and still walk away. Unless we were doing some sort of social experiment, that probably wouldn’t happen, right? What do we expect? That just looking in the mirror is going to remove the lettuce. No—we must take the next step and do something about it.

James is drawing a parallel between that idea and God’s Word. Just like we wouldn’t quickly look in the mirror and walk away without fixing what we saw, we shouldn’t simply listen and hear God’s Word without taking action. 

Instead of quickly glancing at God’s Word, or listening without letting it really sink in, we should be leaning in with intention, looking for the action points. What is God asking me to do here? What is He saying that I should put into practice? What do these words mean for me? How can I apply this to my life, today? These are questions we can be asking ourselves as we read and as we listen. One of the keys to this passage is to continue looking at God’s Word this way and to continue leaning into God’s Word, the perfect law that brings freedom to us. 

It sounds backwards that a law could bring freedom, right? But the beauty of God’s Word is that it offers us the opportunity to rid ourselves of sin, to shed the things that hold us down, to break the chains of anything that is enslaving us and to live in real, true freedom.

James highlights clear hearers and doers. A hearer listens, moves on and fools himself. A doer leans in, continuing to search for the meaning and application of God’s Word. Let us be doers.

Dig Deeper:

What are some ways that you have been only a hearer and not a doer? Ask the Lord to show you where you can begin to take action. 

If you’re ready to take action, visit your local Salvation Army corps (church) and look for ways to join in on the mission, ministry and service they’re offering to the community. 

• September 1: James 1:1-3
• September 2: James 1:4-8 
• September 3: James 1:9-11
• September 4: James 1:12-15 
• September 5: James 1:16-18 
• September 6: James 1:19-21 
• September 7: James 1:22-25 
• September 8: James 1:26-27 
• September 9: James 2:1-4 
• September 10: James 2:5-7
• September 11: James 2:8-11 
• September 12: James 2:12-13 
• September 13: James 2:14-17 
• September 14: James 2:18-19 
• September 15: James 2:20-26 
• September 16: James 3:1-6
• September 17: James 3:7-12 
• September 18: James 3:13-16 
• September 19: James 3:17-18 
• September 20: James 4:1-3
• September 21: James 4:4-6
• September 22: James 4:7-10 
• September 23: James 4:11-12 
• September 24: James 4:13-17
• September 25: James 5:1-6
• September 26: James 5:7-9
• September 27: James 5:10-12 
• September 28: James 5:13-16 
• September 29: James 5:17-18 
• September 30: James 5:19-20

Prayer

Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve read Your Word and walked away thinking that was enough. Help me to listen to Your Spirit, and begin to do the things you want me to do for Your Kingdom. Amen.

Flower Illustration by Lan Truong & Verse Illustration by Saskia Bueno