day 22: be a doer

"do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. do what it says. but the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."

james 1:22, 25

a year ago i went on an 11-day trip to ghana, west africa with 13 other people - 4 other adults, 9 students - on a youth group missions trip. it was an experience that none of us will forget. we may forget details - names of people, places, things we did, etc - but there is something we will never forget. ghanaian children (and adults) love to be photographed. more then that, they love to see themselves in the photo. their reactions to seeing themselves is priceless. each of us took dozens of photos of the children and spent just as much time showing them the results. i brought a video camera with me in addition to my digital camera. their reaction to seeing themselves on video matched, if not topped, their reaction to seeing a photo. the photo below was taken by a friend on the trip, capturing me being bombarded by pre-school aged children who are loving seeing themselves on video.

why is it so fascinating for the children, and even the adults, to see themselves? most of them probably never get to see what they look like, or if they do, not very often. if they do, it is not on camera.

this passage in james makes reference to people who look in a mirror, and then just minutes later forget who they are. he uses this as an example of people who hear the Word but don't do what it says. it is a waste. he encourages Christians to "prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (james 1:22).

do we delude ourselves? to delude is "to mislead the mind or judgement of; to deceive; to trick". i often deceive myself and others in regard to my faith. i can talk a pretty good walk, but do i walk the talk? do i live up to the standards that i encourage my youth group students to live by? do i even live up to the standards that i judge others by?

we are called to be doers. i can be a doer. i went to ghana on a missions trip. i give of my time as a youth group leader and play in the worship band. i am generally a "nice" person, i think. is that all james meant? is that all God wants? in a lot of ways, spending 11 days on a missions trip to ghana is easy, as are the other acts. james adds, "pure and undefiled religion in the sign of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (james 1:27) what am i doing in my own community?

being a doer isn't always easy. "it challenges our hearts, our motives, our wallets, and our schedules."

Lord, open up my eyes and ears to see your Word, but also use my mouth, my hands, and my feet to do what it says.