As I read today’s verses and we get into this discussion, I want reiterate that we are talking here about growth, and we are talking about accountability to ourselves, not to others.  The reading today isn’t something to be taken in the context of a church using this an excuse to judge its people, and their merits as Christians, or whether or not someone is ‘really saved’...this is about examining ourselves, asking if we really are leaning into God’s teaching, and growing individually.  Salvation isn’t earned in doing as James is teaching; James is just trying to provide some motivation to us.  So here is today’s text and then we’ll talk about it: (James 1:22-27).

Reading this, I kind of see 3 ideas jumping out, 3 thoughts.  I will tackle one today, and then we’ll keep with this line of thought and these verse and dig into the second and third tomorrow.

The first is in verses 22-25, that we are to be doers of the Word...meaning, we are to be changed, we are to be challenged, and we are to grow as we adopt God’s teaching.  When was the last time you were challenged by God’s word?  Or, how about this...when was the last time you were inconvenienced by it?  When was a time when you wanted to do x, but you had that moment of pause, and you felt a kind of nudge and knew you should do y, and you really didn’t want to and you really didn’t want to, to the point of just thinking, “Crap, okay God, I hear you...”, and you did y?  When was the last time that happened to you?  That should be something that happens not all that seldom if you are growing.  I can recall an incident from last week, but that is really only because I had committed through these journal entries to follow where God leads me in trying to serve others, which was cool, but that should be something that is welcomed, is frequent, and it a reminder that God is with us and is guiding us.  When was the last time your faith inconvenienced you or put you in a position where you had to make a decision you didn’t really want simply because of what you profess to believe.  That’s a great metric to track over time.  That is the essence of growth.

For today and tomorrow, I want to really challenge myself on this idea of being a doer of the Word and not just a hearer.  A step in that direction is a prayer I heard someone teach once, and it simply goes like this: “God, help me to want what you want, and to recognize when I don’t, that I may see an opportunity to be more like you.”   That is it - very simple.  In reality, this should be a part of every daily prayer.  I am going to be praying that and hoping for that today.  And that will get me ready for a really direct application that we will see tomorrow.