DOER OF THE WORD
James 1:23-24 For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
Being a doer of the Word of God is of utmost importance. We know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And once we hear it, we must do it in order for the Word to work in our lives. I think most believers fall short in the area of doing what they have heard. James tells us, by illustration, what this is like. He says that if you have a mirror and look in it but can’t remember what you look like, it is like hearing the Word and not doing it. It’s forgetting what you’ve heard, which is the punch line of this verse. Not putting the Word into practice causes you to forget what God has said to you from the Word. It’s forgetting instructions from the Word or forgetting what the Holy Ghost said for you to personally do while you were reading, studying, or hearing the Word of God.
This forgetting is a real problem for believers. When we forget, we are not esteeming what the Lord has written for us and what He has personally spoken to us. I know, for me personally, when the Lord spoke to my heart, I thought it was so strong and so profound that I would never forget it, but just like you, I found myself saying to the Lord, “Tell me again what you said.” If I don’t write it down, it is lost. Many times, in His graciousness, He would repeat it. But early on, the Lord had people I respected highly speak to me, by the Holy Ghost, and say, “When I tell you something, write it down.” After He spoke that to me, it was funny because the next meeting I was in, I had three notebooks given to me from people in the church. We must write it down, so we don’t forget what He has said. This has always been an issue in the body of Christ, forgetting what God has said.
The children of Israel had this problem, and God warned them as He is warning us. Deuteronomy 8:11 says, “Beware that you forget not the Lord your God, in not keeping His commandments, and his judgements, and his statutes, which I command you this day.” In Verse 14, He tells them that when they forget the Lord, it is a form of pride. It seems that if we just shrug it off, we didn’t really humble ourselves before God, we didn’t take His instruction as a command, or we weren’t serious about the revelation or the instruction He gave us since we didn’t do it. Instead, we forgot them. Even the Psalmist warned us in Psalm 103:2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” This warning is important for us. If we forget His benefits, we will not walk in His promises. We are to remember that He forgives us, heals us, redeems us from destruction, and crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. If we forget that when we are under attack, it does us no good. We should remember these things. We should remind ourselves of what He said. Paul told Timothy to put the brethren in remembrance of these things (1 Timothy 4:6). Peter also said he would not neglect putting us in remembrance, so we would be established in this present truth (2 Peter 1:12). This remembering is important, so I remind you not to forget what the Lord has revealed and spoken to you!