James, the
“servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” wrote to the
“twelve tribes” which were “scattered abroad”
concerning being “doers of the word and not hearers only”.
He likened this kind of person to one who “beholds his face in a
glass” and “forgets what manner of man he was”. In
chapter one and verse twenty-five of his letter, James refers to
those who “look into the perfect law of liberty” where we
read:
But whoso
looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man
shall be blessed in his deed.
The
verse begins, “But whoso looks into
the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer,...” James
began with the word, “But”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated, “whoso
looks” or
“stoops in order to look at with the head bowed forward and the
body
bent”
“into the perfect”
or “towards the finished, ended, complete and mature” “law”
which refers to “the established command, precept or rule producing
a state of approval from God” “of
liberty”
which means “fancied license and doing as one pleases”, “and
continues”
or “stays beside, survives and remains alive” “therein”
which means “in this or these things”, “he
being not”
or “not becoming, receiving or allowing to happen”
“a forgetful”
which means “one who does not remember or neglects” “hearer”
or “one who listens intensively”. Rather than looking into the
“mirror” and “forgetting” what one is like, James' readers
were to look into the liberating “word of God” “continually”
and not “forget”
the manners and ways that it gave them.
Finally
the verse says, “...but
a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James
continued, “but”
which again is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about
to be written takes precedence over what was just stated, “a
doer” or “maker, producer
and performer” “of the work”
which means “business, employment and that which anyone has
occupied”, “this man” or
“this person whether male or female” “shall be
blessed” which means “will
be happy, fortunate and well off” “in his deed”
or “making, producing and performing”. James directed his readers
to be “doers” of
the word of God, and they would “be blessed”
in their performance of it.
When
we meditate upon these words of James, we should be inspired to “look
into” God's word and stay in it. We should not “forget”
His words and should “do” as He instructs. Most people
desire to be “blessed” in their “deeds”,
however most of them “ignore God's ways” or only “hear”
them rather than perform them. Jesus Christ desires to be the
“Savior” of every person alive, but He also wants to be their
Lord. This only happens when they “look into his perfect law of
liberty” and obey His every word.
Next
time James shares about a man who“forgets
what manner of man he was”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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