Wednesday, July 22, 2015

James 1:25 (Devotion)

"But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

This entire section on hearing and doing culminates with a call to persevere. It began with a warning on self-deception followed by an example that we could easily relate to, and now finishes with a vision of reward to those who apply the Word.

James affirms us that God's Law, His Word, is perfect. It can be trusted unconditionally because it is a reflection of His heart into the mirror of our lives that we can see through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have complete access to His will when we spend quality time (not quantity) studying the Scriptures with teachable hearts. Therefore we are without excuse because He has revealed Himself to us and not held back anything we need.

Not only is God's Law perfect, it liberates us from the bondage of self-deception. It is FREEDOM, a concept the world struggles mightily to understand. In truth, those who reject the Word of God do so because they view it as suffocating, shackling man from free will to live as he chooses. Yet they misunderstand that Scripture protects and allows us to live freely because we are no longer slaves to our flesh. We live for a higher purpose BECAUSE OF God's absolute truth, and that is made possible through the law of liberty.

Persevering fleshly desires and culture's tempestuous schemes is the key to not falling victim to hearing and not doing what Scripture says. For we are bombarded daily with reasons to be timid in stepping forward in faith or simply lazy altogether to avoid the baggage that might come with living out the Gospel. Yet in those moments we forget that God didn't simply speak a Word and said He would save us, He put Word into action and sacrificed His Son in application to save us. God ACTED, so there is no justifiable reason why we cannot as well in thanksgiving for what He did on our behalf.

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