James 1:23-24‏

"For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror." James 1:23

A Christian cannot read the Word of God without looking at his or her self. We know the Word is Jesus... it's hard to perceive how this can be, but John 1:1 says it, and we believe it... and so, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, He moves into our hearts. This means that the Word now dwells within us also. I've shown in other studies, how this explains things like: never being able to understand the bible until we are saved... being able to quote scriptures when witnessing that you've not memorized, etc... Now, with the living Word inside and when we read the written Word, we come into agreement with "that" (the truth) which is now within us. Because of this miracle, we are able to see the "error of our way" and allow the truth to change us. But back to the point James makes.

Just like looking carefully into the mirror, you see something wrong and do not fix it before you go about the business of the day... then you forget about it.

24. "For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like."

This is the warning James presents about the Word of God. Because we are now saved... we have the Word dwelling inside... and so when we read the Word now... we are able to truly consider what the Spirit Of Christ says... and if we do not "do" what His leading says... WE FORGET ABOUT IT.

Now, this may be a matter of just resisting to a particular deep rooted habit... addiction... or just plain stubbornness, however, if this continues very long... or, if this is the case with many areas of God's Word... you will see, as we dig deeper into our study of James, it may be that we falsely believe we are saved.

But, certainly, for the true Christian, as is the context here... James offers this warning, and we will look at what is lost when we do obey the Word of God.

Let's pick up with James verse 1:25 next time.

I love you.