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A Priceless Drive

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”  James 1:22

Road ConstructionI spent much of today driving from South Bend, Indiana to Cameron, Missouri – just north of Kansas City.  What a trip!  I left South Bend at 1:00 PM and arrived in Cameron at 11:00 PM my time, 10:00 PM local time.  With an hour out for a WalMart, meal, and fuel stop, it was still a long drive.  Let’s see if I can sumarize it well:

  • Driving – 500+ miles

  • Time – 10 hours

  • Fuel – $58

  • Meal, snacks, and Dr Pepper – $10

  • Listening to audio recordings of the entire books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – Priceless!

The time seemed to pass quickly as I listened to these gospels.  So much so, that I can hardly wait for the drive home to continue this priceless listening.  Even the occasional construction zone – with speed limits reduced to 55 mph instead of 70 mph – were not an annoyance as it gave a little more time to soak in the Word.  I love God’s Word!  I love to read it, proclaim it, and listen to it.  Even more, I love to live it!  That is the most necessary part, and the most difficult part. 

James tells us that to merely listen to the Word, but not do what it says, is a fairly useless activity.  However, if we hear the Word and put it into practice, we will be blessed in what we do.  Just in case we are not sure what putting the Word into practice might look like, James gives us some straightforward examples in verses 26 and 27.  Controlling ourselves, particularly our tongue, is an outward display of a part of the fruit of God’s Spirit – self-control.  Practicing what we hear from God also involves loving our neighbor as ourself – caring for widows and orphans in their distress.  Not making excuses for why they might be in need, but caring for them with the love of Jesus.  Finally, James wants us to know that living the Word of God requires us to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world.  We must take captive every thought and hold it obedient to the will, love, and righteousness of God.  See, I said this was the hard part. 

Fortunately, as we expose ourselves to the Word of God through reading and listening, we have God’s Spirit within us to empower us to live it.  It is our choice.  Do we allow God’s Spirit to use His Word to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgement?  As we do, do we adjust our actions, even our very thoughts, to align with God’s view of what is right, good, and proper? 

It was a great day for listening and I pray it was an even better day for preparing me to live the words I heard.

May God draw you to hearing His Word and empower you to live it.

One thought on “A Priceless Drive”

  1. It’s always interesting when the same message appears in more than one place. The sermon at church yesterday was on the same topic, also from James. It always makes me wonder if perhaps God is at work in a special way, getting Christians to realize that we need to be at work. As Edmund Burke noted, all that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. Most of what has gone wrong in this country is because Christians on the whole have done nothing for so long. Sure, there are still missionaries and pastors, but those who are really working are vastly outnumbered by those who are “hearers only.”

    So “amen” to your prayer that God draws us all closer to His Word and empowers us to live it.

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