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BE WISE AS HEARERS AS WELL AS DOERS

(James 1:21-27; 2:14-16—Ps Paw Liang)

The issues in this text: the people failed to listen and to learn from God’s word therefore there was no connection between their belief and the way they lived.
Three things involved from hearing God’s word to living our God’s word:

1. Good listening (v.19)
We listen for various reasons: to obtain information/knowledge, to kill time, for enjoyment, for learning or to listen for life? The Lord requires us to listen to His Word for life, to let the word of God shape and nourish us, to be the bedrock of our life! To save you ...The challenge is how to listen well? The ancient Chinese character “聽” (ting) reminds us: to listen with our ears as well as our eyes, and heart, with an undivided attention as if we’re listening to a king.  Second challenge, to listen with a clear purpose, ... and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. To listen for “life”, for the abundant life as promised by Jesus (John 10:10b).

2. Good memory (vv22-23)
The word of God is a mirror for us to see our original image created by God, the imago dei (image of God). In a broken world we can only see broken images—image of self, marriage, family, professional life Or even image of church. We look into the word of God to see the image of God we have lost and to grow into this image.  We need to work on our memory and to retain God’s word.


Richard Foster (in Celebration of Discipline) suggests four steps:
1. Repetition (read it several times)
2. Concentration (focus on one or two points that pop out to you)
3. Comprehension (finding the knowledge of the truth)
4. Reflection (define the significance of the text, to see things from God’s perspective).

3. Good and Strong Will to do God’s will (vv25-27; 14-16)
How much can we rely on our own will? Even when we have a strong will to do whatever our hearts have purposed, will our will work the same in doing God’s will? Paul prayed for the believers, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being (Ephesians 3:16). We need the empowerment by the Holy Spirit to purify and strengthen our will, enabling us to do God’s will.

God will is clear, obedient is hard! May God give us a willing an obedient heart!
Humble to listen! Take time to reflect and God’s word! With the help of the Holy Spirit making every effort to live our His word!


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