IJames 1: 23-25: If you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law, the law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, God will bless you for doing it.
My son Douglas hates getting ready. It cuts into the important part of his day: playing basketball, watching tv… stuff like that. So a typical morning in our house consists of him doing his thing until either my husband or I start bellowing threats at him.
Faster than Spidey or Superman, he sheds his pjs and miraculously transforms into his daytime suit, and we find him impatiently waiting on the couch for the rest of us.
Unfortunately for him, we find he’s forgotten some “minor” part of his morning ritual, such as putting on his right shoe, washing his face, or combing his wet hair.
Douglas’ impatience doesn’t get him out of what he’s expected to do, but it does make things less pleasant. He thinks he’s ready, but instead we all have to wait while he goes back and finishes what he started.
God says in James that when we hear His Word, but don’t follow through on what we hear, we are behaving the same way. We see our flaws for a fleeting moment, vow to change, but immediately we “walk away and forget what we look like”.
While I suspect Douglas could care less about his bad habits, I’ll bet money that you feel as crummy as I do when you come face to face with your weakness.
Thank God, He loves us even more strongly than we love our flawed children! He doesn’t want us to fail, so in James, he gives us a roadmap for changing our bad habits and discovering the blessings and rewards he’s had planned for us all along.
Step 1 of God’s process is to “keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law”. Being a huge fan of lifelong learning, I figured this should be the easiest part of the plan. And, the logical first step. As I hear over and over again, “you don’t know what you don’t know…” so it only makes sense to learn as much as we can about God’s Word.
So why is it so hard?
The answer can be summed up in three words: time, time, and….well, time.
First, most of us, myself included, are as impatient as my son Douglas when it comes to our time. It could be considered our most precious commodity, maybe even more important than food! Studying and understanding God’s word is a big commitment, and we won’t see results immediately (although the benefits come much faster than with many goals we set for ourselves - take losing weight, for example…).
Second, life moves at the speed of light, and sometimes we are left like deer staring into the headlights wondering how we got there in the first place. Think of how many tasks and jobs you fit into your “typical day.” I just sat down to do just that, and was up to 25 before I even left the house for work! As Emily Dickinson has said “to live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.”
Including “looking steadily into God’s perfect law…”
And, yet, doing so is step one in God’s process and such a critical pledge to make – to ourselves and to God - because God’s law isn’t there to give us rules and regulations we are bound by, but rather it is “the law that sets you free!” Free to be the person God knows you can be.
I could go on for hours with time management and organizational skills that will help you find the extra time in your day to study the Bible. But, I won’t. Because, although finding the time is important, it won’t guaranty you’ll honor your promise and not “walk away and forget what you look like” (after all, that extra time can be filled up with so many other things, can’t it?).
No, committing to a lifetime of learning what God wants to teach isn’t an appointment to be kept, but rather a promise we make without knowing how it will happen.
Even though my son Douglas has so much trouble getting ready in the morning, I know he’ll make it to school in one piece because he has his dad and me to remind him to brush his teeth and comb his hair. While, on his own, he might “walk away and do nothing to improve his appearance”, we won’t give up on him until he’s learned what he needs to do on his own. That’s what parents do.
Hooray! We have a heavenly Father who cares even more for us! His perfect Word will set us free, and his loving patience will never give up. Proverbs 3: 5-6 sums it up flawlessly: Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.
About the author: Sue Dickinson Sue Dickinson is a mom, a business woman, and the founder of www.Unlimited Mom.com, a web site and e-newsletter designed to celebrate the many facets of Mom - including her walk with God. Sue is also the author of the book: "What's a Mom to Do? Overcoming the Urge to Put Your Life on Hold", which can be purchased at unlimitedmom.com.
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