Forgetful Hearer or Effectual Doer? (James 1:25)
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works — this person will be blessed in what he does. -- James 1:25
Today, we continue our journey word by word, verse by verse through the book of James.
James 1:25 describes that the person is an effectual doer of the word will be blessed in what she does.
Similar to what worked through in yesterday's Digging Deeper, James commands for believers not to only be hearers of the word but doers of the word. Verse 25 describes the believer who is an effectual doer. The effectual doer does 3 things:
- LOOK INTENTLY into the perfect law of freedom
- PERSEVERES in the law of freedom
- DOES IT
It seems obvious that in order to be doers of the word we must first look into into the word. "Looks intently" (parakypsas, παρακύπτω) literally means to "stoop down" in order to have closer look. This means that our look at the word is not a quick glance or a fly by. Instead, we pause and stoop down to investigate what it is that we are seeing, hearing, and experiencing.
Further, we are to persevere in the word. Personally, I've spent a lot of time over the past few weeks trying to figure out how this plays out. "Persevere" (parameno, παραμένω) means to "remain in a state or situation". We are meant to meditate, to sit with, to dwell with the Word of God. We are meant to endure with it. This cannot happen quickly, it is a slow, deliberate process.
Lastly, we must do it. The Word of God is not just to be agreed with, it is meant to be obeyed.
Hear the words of Jesus from his "Sermon on the Mount" as recorded in Matthew 7:24-27:
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.” -- Matthew 7:24-27
