May 3
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GOD’S LAW BRINGS FREEDOM AND BLESSINGS
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.
– James 1:22-25
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In this letter, James wants to emphasize the importance of living out the word of God instead of just reading or hearing it. His recommendation is to “prove yourselves doers of the word.” What does that mean? He didn’t say study and read the word, but prove to be doers of it. The word “prove” is defined as to demonstrate the truth or existence of (something) by evidence. In verse 23-24, he explains the consequence of those who just hear the word and not do it. What interesting picture James give us when likens those who do not follow the word of God to someone who quickly forgets how he looks right after he leaves his reflection from the mirror. Isn’t this very true? We fail to remember what we have just read or studied when we don’t do it. It doesn’t become part of us. This is why the bible tells us to meditate on the word day and night in Joshua 1:8 so that it doesn’t depart from us. When we meditate on it, it becomes ingrained in our whole being, then we automatically do it. The process of reading and studying doesn’t bear fruit unless we meditate and churn on it. In verse 25, he further shows the benefit of someone who intently look into the perfect law which he calls the law of freedom. He becomes an active doer of the word. He is therefore blessed and prosper in all that he does. David talks about this in Psalm 1:2-3 when he said “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” It seems like James paraphrased this psalm of David in this letter. But I like the way James described the law in verse 25 as the law of freedom. Many of us who look at law would wonder how it could make us live in freedom. That is because the word “freedom” vastly differs in meaning according to how the world looks at it and how God meant it to be. Following God’s law brings us peace and joy if it is done in love for Him.
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REFLECTION
• How can following God’s law free us from many things?