I have been thinking lately about how difficult it is sometimes to “live our religion.” At times it is easy to feel like we know so much about what it means to be Christ-like, but if you ask yourself if you are really living a Christ-like life, or more to the point, am I living as Christ would live, the answer is almost always no. At least it is for me. I have had a scripture running through my head for the past couple of days and decided to look it up today and read it in context. I was really surprised by what I found. The part I had going through my head was this, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.” I think that is how I usually hear it, but when I looked it up today there was more to the verse and I found it very revealing.
It is in James 1:22
Sometimes I think it is easy to be deceived by what we think we know. But knowing and doing are two separate things. It isn’t enough to study the scriptures, and go to church. Those are necessary and important things, but those are only the means to an end, not the end in and of them selves. They are some of the tools we need to use to gain the direction of the spirit which will, if we let it, lead us to the things we need to do to become more like Christ. The rest of the first chapter of James was also very good and insightful.
23 For if any be a ahearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a bglass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
This is so beautiful. I love the imagery of “the word” revealing our natural face. When we see with “our spiritual eyes” we are able to see our true selves, the self that God sees when he looks at us. That self is one with matchless potential, for we are His children. As C.S. Lewis said, “we are Gods in embryo.” There is such power in that view. How sad to catch that glimpse, and then go our separate way and “forget what manner of man” we were. I think that Heavenly Father is constantly trying to give us those glimpses of our true selves, and for that matter the true nature of everyone and everything around us. But when we allow ourselves to become too busy and too distracted we loose the sustaining power of the spirit and we forget what we have seen. Much of the answer to this problem lies in verse 25:
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect alaw of bliberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Again, this is so awesome. I think that often the spirit touches us and gives us those glimpses of our true selves by telling us what we could be doing better. We get those “pin pricks” to our soul that remind us where we have gone astray. When we have those experiences we have two choices. We can either “be a forgetful hearer” and continue in the comfort of our well-worn paths, or we can be “a doer of the work” and get to work to make the changes in our lives that we see are necessary. The promise here is that if we take the harder road, we “shall be blessed in ‘our’ deed.” We will be given the strength we need to do the things we have been prompted to do, but first we have to take the leap of faith and do it. We have to be willing to get outside of our comfort zone and change. No matter where we are in our lives, no matter how “good” or “bad” we feel we are, none of us is perfect, so we should all constantly be working to improve some aspect of our lives. The last two verses are some good ideas to start with:
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his atongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is bvain.
27 Pure areligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To bvisit the cfatherless and dwidows in their eaffliction, and to keep himself funspotted from gthe hworld.
These are areas I have felt the need to improve in. I need to look more for the good in others and not find fault. I worry a lot about my own family, but I know I need to reach out more to those around me who are in need. I need to seek for, and respond to, opportunities to help others. I need to remove myself more from the things of this world, and immerse myself more in the things that will have value in the world to come. As I do these things, hopefully the spirit will add upon what I have been given and I will be able to do even more. If we give our lives to God, and labor to become who He is trying to help us to become the promise is this:
Hebrews 4:9-11
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
I hope that I can be a doer, and not a hearer only, so that I can someday enter into that rest.
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