Doers Do

“Is there no end to windy words?” (Spoken by Job to his “miserable comforters” after they had sat silent for seven days, then laid into him with all kinds of erroneous charges as to the reason he was suffering [Job 16: 2,3]). It reminds me of our current political circus. Which is the point of today’s thoughts.

As I was reading in Romans a couple days ago, I read this verse in 2:13, “for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God but the doers of the law who will be justified.” It got me wondering what else God had to say about this topic. I found a few. James 1:22, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.” And another from Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding have all those who do His commandments.” There are more, but you get the drift.

Solomon adds a crowning touch

in Prov. 10:19, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” I’ve often wished that politicians could get to the meat of their speech without all the posturing and pontificating before the point is made. There is a direct relationship between “many words” and those who hear but do nothing. The Bible says they (the hearers) deceive themselves. The question I ask, “Is that the intent of many words, to deceive the hearers?” Hmm. Could that also be the reason many of our proposed laws come in volumes of 2,000 pages or more; nobody is expected to read them…before the vote.

Fake news is a relatively recent term added to our vocabulary. It’s often tied to the media, but aside from their bias toward one side of the aisle, don’t they get their talking points from their favorite politicians? Years ago, I was taught in sales and in writing to be direct, to use one-syllable words instead of multi-syllable words when you can. They get the thought across with less chance of error.

So, with all that as background,

my goal is to encourage the reader to take stock of your life. Do you sit in the pew, hear the words, but go your way the same as when you walked in the door? That’s a waste of your time. God’s word is written for us and is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). We are not to hear and do nothing. If we want to be blessed by God, we need to be “doers of the law”. James also says (1:25), “But one who…continued (in the law) not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer…will be blessed in what he does.”

Do we want God’s blessing? It’s offered to all who do it His way. The starting point is to change our thinking. Every act is preceded by a thought. We’re told in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The world looks at us Christians

with a critical eye to see if our words line up with our actions. When we hear (or speak or write) but don’t do, we stoke their fire of judgment of us and their label of hypocrite isn’t too far off the mark. Let’s make today the day we allow the Holy Spirit to have all of us, especially the inner thoughts and motives that drive our doing, not because it earns salvation, but because we love Jesus and are grateful for all He’s done for us.

If you’re reading this and it has caused you to react defensively, it could be that you are in the camp who has heard the truth of the gospel, maybe for years, but not done anything about it. Reread paragraph 2 above. James says you have deceived yourself. It’s not too late to become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) in Christ. Don’t wait. Time is short and Jesus could call us home any day. For a detailed look at what God thinks of your condition and the steps to have a relationship with Him, check out our Steps To Salvation page.

Thanks for reading.