Listening and Doing

James 1: 19-27: "My dear brothers, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

It is good for us to listen to the Word. To read the Bible, and to talk to God (and listen to what He has to say). But it is also important to do. I mean, I don't think God wants us to just sit around and do nothing. Look around you! There's people hurting, people confused, people in distress. How can we just do nothing? We need to reach out to them, and we need to do what God has called for us to do. God didn't create us to listen , he created us to do. I'm not saying that we shouldn't listen, obviously. We need to listen, but in following listening, we must do something.

Like it says in the verse above, "anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says, is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." It's like looking at someone sitting without shelter, hungry for food, and thirsty for water. Should we look at him like we are looking in a mirror, walking away and forgetting what we saw? Of course not.

So let us listen, and let us do.