According to a newspaper report, the police ticketed a New Zealander man 32 times over a 5-year period. Why? For not wearing a seatbelt.
Though his violations were costing him money, he refused to buckle up. So he resorted to deception—fashioning a strap that would hang over his shoulder and make it appear he was wearing a seatbelt. He got away with it for a while, but his deception came to an end when he was involved in an accident that thrust him into the steering wheel and took his life. In his attempt to deceive the law, the man was only fooling himself.
James, in the opening chapter of his letter, taught his readers how to avoid the land mine of self-deception. In order to avoid it, he encouraged them to be hearers of God’s Word (James 1:22). James understood that when they heard the Word, it had the potential to transform their attitudes and actions. God, through the Scriptures would get to the root of things. He would treat them as they are and not as they pretended them to be.
James also encouraged this congregation to be doers of the Word (James 1:25). According to James, hearing God’s Word was good, but it wasn’t enough. They had to do what it said. As the mirror of God’s Word revealed what was out of place in their lives, they were to align their lives with the truth. To hear God’s Word and not practice it led to self-deception. However, to be hearers and doers of it led to blessing.
Hearing and doing what Scripture says reveals what our lives are really like, not what we pretend them to be (James 1:26), and it helps us to avoid deceiving ourselves. Let’s practice hearing and doing what the Bible says and experience the joy and blessing that accompanies obedience.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Luke 19:1-27
More:
Read Matthew 7:24-25 and see an illustration of hearing and doing God’s Word.
Next:
What prevents you from hearing the Word? What biblical truth that you’ve received this past week will you put into practice?
roxanne robbins on August 27, 2012 at 4:53 am
Yesterday, my son and I finished reading Moby Dick for the fourth time. (We love the children’s classic version).
There’s a powerful line in the story when 1st Mate Starbuck exhorts the captain, “Ahab should be aware of Ahab.”
Indeed, like Captain Ahab, or the motorist describe in this post, our pride, stubbornness or desire for revenge can lead to our own destruction.
It’s important that we humble ourselves before the Lord and seek HIs wisdom before launching into action that could harm ourselves or others.
tom felten on August 27, 2012 at 8:44 am
Great point, Roxanne. God’s Word repeatedly tells us things like “be patient,” “be humble,” “be still,” “be holy.” We can’t exhibit these things without consistently feeding on Scripture and—by the work of the Holy Spirit—having our thoughts, desires, and goals transformed by God.
marvin williams on August 27, 2012 at 9:12 am
roxanne, you are spot on. One of the areas where I see God growing me is in the area of pride via defensiveness. When someone points out foibles and flaws in my character, instead of receiving the correction, I have a tendency to get defensive and rationalize why I did something or didn’t do something. The word of God cuts through all of that junk and shows us who we really are. We must humble ourselves to receive the correction and obey what he tells us. Marvin should be aware of Marvin. Thanks for your comment.
dabac on August 27, 2012 at 9:16 am
Like Ahab from Moby Dick, the biblical king Ahab had similar fate due to his pride and non-repentance (1 Kings 22)
To paraphrase Starbuck (the character I really like), I’d say “We all should be aware of Ahab in ourselves”
Lamont on August 27, 2012 at 10:17 am
Amazing when you consider the amount of energy required to craft and mantain a decpetion, inflate our pride, plot revenge or sate naked hunger for fame, adulation and fortune. It’s exhausting. It’s just wrong and it is so far from the path we should walk. In the end, it is utterly useless
It has taken me a long, long time to get to the point where I see this. I thank the Lord for the discernment to see this. I’m so grateful I don’t have to be that way anymore.
Getting here does daily Bible reading, fellowship, time for meditation and so on because the “world” is a loud, distracting and seductive place and no one has a work ethic like the devil.
winn collier on August 27, 2012 at 11:56 am
this is a haunting story. and a warning. thank you.
daisymarygoldr on August 27, 2012 at 9:41 pm
This is so sad but true. It is either ignorance or plain cockiness that makes people feel like they can cheat and get away with violating a law. Sooner or later we discover that there is a way that seems right but in the end it leads to death. Self-deception is hypocrisy that leads to denial and disbelief of the truth.
Sadder still is the deception of Christian liberty that is totally averse to law and its limitation. Obedience is frowned upon as legalism and rule-keepers are looked down as fundamental Pharisees. The Bible however differs with such twisted thinking and says: “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25)
Thanks Marvin Williams for this timely teaching to be hearers and doers of God’s Word!