be a DO-er

"but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself.  for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  for he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  but the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and preserves being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." - james 1: 22-25

"everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who build his house on the rock.  and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and a great was the fall of it" - matthew 7:24-27

these are two very convicting verses that have hit me recently.  i am studying james in my quiet time right now.  when i got to verses 22-25 in james it instantly reminded me of the wise man and the foolish man, not because of the fun bible song that talks about building a house on the rocks, but because the wise man [listened] and the foolish man [did not listen].

there were several times growing up i heard exactly what my mom was saying, but more often than not did i not follow through with those directions.  what happened?  obviously something went wrong, i was defeated, i got hurt, i got in trouble, i hurt someone else's feelings, etc.  really the list would never end.  what went wrong?  i HEARD my mom....i UNDERSTOOD exactly what she was saying.  so where is the problem?  i didn't LISTEN! i didn't DO what she requested of me. listening requires action.  hearing requires acknowledging.  very different.

so when jesus tells us to love, and care, and provide, and tell others about him, and pursue holiness, and grow in the word, and give generously, and repent, and produce fruits of the spirit (galatians 5) and we DONT!? what will happen?

well, when the storm in our life comes we will have nothing to stand on. no foundation, we will be washed away.  and just like i didn't listen to my mom, when we don't listen to jesus the consequences can be eternal and magnified.  we must run to the cross out of obedience and love, not out of fear of consequence.

be a DOER, not just a HEARER. 

it sets you apart as Christ has called you to be set apart.