Am I a Doer or a Hearer?
James 1:22-25 (ESV)
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
This scripture has been bouncing around in my mind for the past few days. I came across it while doing a devotional reading the other day and I have been thinking about it since. Am I a Doer, do I live out God’s Word? Or, am I more of a Hearer, someone who hears God’s Word then continues on living my life as I always have? These questions are magnified as I am reading through two different books that both challenge how we (I) are living out our faith. David Platt’s Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Last night we had a Bible study that was talking about chapter 4 in Crazy Love entitled Profile of the Lukewarm. The video we watched to start things off was powerful and asked a tough question. How many of the people who walk through your churches doors each week will you actually see in heaven? This question stands out even more with the release of Rob Bell’s new book that many are probably correctly labeling as having a Universalist prospective.
But with James 1:22-25 rattling in my mind my thought is how well am I living out my faith. Or put another way, if you asked the people who know me how they know I am a Christian would it be because of how I lived, or because I said I was.
Over this past week I have been wondering what I should do about the disasters that hit Japan. I have always wanted to visit the country. I have a love for their culture including their animation, but what can I do? I have been praying for them, as much of the world has, but I want to do more. Is it enough to send some money, should I try to find an aid organization that I could go with to help out first hand, would that make more of a difference, or would the money be better spent by sending it to a known organization like World Vision?
Tedward's Ramblings 