At LWC, we are beginning a study of the book of James. If I were to pick one verse from the book that, in my opinion, summarizes the entire letter, it would be James 1:22. “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude (deceive) themselves.” NIV states it this way, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what is says.”
James makes it clear that if we are to be vital, maturing Christians, we must obey what the word of God says to do. And if we listen only, we fall into deception. Deception is a deadly poison. When you are deceived, you honestly think you are doing right, when actually, you are not. Unfortunately, it is very easy to fall into deception. People can trick us, sin can entice us, desires can lead us astray.
But in the book of James, God takes this a step further. James writes that we can actually deceive ourselves. How can that be? Simple really. If we just listen to God’s commands and choose to ignore them, then we lead ourselves down the pathway of deception. And by definition, we don’t even know it. As we study James, choose to be a doer of the Word. Holy Spirit would you bring conviction into areas of our lives where we are deceived. Shine Your light of truth and expose areas where we are ‘hearers’ only.