Take a guess- how many sermons have you heard? How about Sunday School (Connect Group) lessons or other Bible study groups you have joined? Add these together. Different variables will result in different totals but regardless of the differences, consider how much you have heard. Now, to be fair, no one can remember every sermon or lesson. However, James 1:22 gives us a sobering reminder. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James does not fault us for being hearers. We should and must hear. Rather, he appeals to us to be doers.
Jesus Himself taught the value of being a doer. Consider how Jesus put it in Luke 8:20-21. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” Too often we stop with the activity of hearing. Jesus told us to put what we hear from God’s Word into practice.
In practical terms, we are expected to do more than “just go to church.” In some way, we have to act upon what we hear. That act could concern a truth we need to begin to believe or lies we have believed that we need to discard or a practice we need to start or stop. To only hear is, as James put, to deceive ourselves.
So, I do not know how many sermons or lessons you have heard but I offer an encouragement to you. The next time you hear a sermon or a lesson, listen for the sake of application. Is there a truth I need to begin to believe? Are there lies I have embraced that I need to reject? Is there a sin I need to confess? Is there a practice I need to build into my life? A simple prayer– “God, how do you want me to be a doer of what I just heard?”– would serve us all well. May God bless you and enable you this year to become a doer!