How to keep from deceiving yourself
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22 NIV)
Go ahead and do it
While attending a business seminar, the speaker said repeatedly, “If you do this you will be successful,” and he gave many examples of people who had achieved much success following his tried and proven business methods.
There soon will be lots of new millionaires
I looked around the conference room and saw that there were lots of people present. I thought, “Wow, there soon will be lots of new millionaires when they get back home and start using this great information!”
Most won’t!
After the seminar was completed I approached the speaker to thank him for his helpful presentation. I said, “I bet you feel great having helped so many people today become more successful.” He laughed and said, “If only they would actually do what I show them, but sadly, most of them won’t! I see many of these same people repeatedly at my seminars, I tell them the same thing each time, and nothing ever changes with them! They take mountains of notes, but never do the stuff!”
It boils down to this
It does you absolutely no good to know the right information, if you fail to put it to work!
Even though this was a secular business presentation, I know a lot of Christians exactly like this. They keep “listening and learning” but never “doing.”
Look at today’s verse again, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22 NIV).
So, where is the promise?
Simple, whenever you find a warning or command in the Bible, think about what it says and then do the positive thing that it teaches. In this case, you can avoid being deceived by obeying the following command: “Do not merely listen to the word, do what it says.”
Therefore…
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17 ESV)
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Gal. 6:9 ESV)