Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves

Jm1:22

            This verse of scripture may be the best definition of the church.  Going to church does not necessarily make you church.  Receiving the initial experience of the forgiveness of sin does not necessarily put you in heaven.  Being baptized in the Holy Spirit does not necessarily mean that you are free from sin.  Reading scripture regularly does not necessarily make you a saint.  Only by being a doer of the word do you stay in the grace of God and keep yourself from self deception.  How long it takes to work out your salvation depends entirely upon God and your willingness to do what the Spirit leads you to do.  Abraham, the father of our faith, left his homeland, not knowing whither he was going in obedience to God.  When promised a son it took twenty five years to accomplish that promise and fifteen years later, he offered Isaac, his child, in obedience to the word of God.  Abraham's trials and testing were over a life time but because he lived by faith he is considered our spiritual father.

            We begin our lives as natural men and women.  Consequently when we first hear the word we hear it with natural ears.  Only the word is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, to bring us to repentance.  Only the word and the Spirit of God can cause us to forsake the world for God.  Unpacking the meat of the word takes years, not only of reading and hearing it, but putting it into practice.  The parable of the Sower reveals to us that the word may not reach the heart, that we may abandon the word due to persecution and trials, and that being sidetracked by the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches may choke the word that it bears no fruit.  Only the person who hears the word with a fertile heart with patience will yield a harvest. 

            Our journey as church is over a lifetime.  Only as we grow, by putting the word into practice, does our life begin to reflect the life of Christ.  It is that life that is pleasing to God and a witness to the world, both believer and unbeliever alike.  Are we becoming a light to the world?  Can people see the anointing of God in your life?  His love? His peace? His joy?  If they can than your life is pointing them to Jesus and not to yourself.  It is that life God wants us to project and it is only by being a doer of the word and not a hearer only does that life come to be.  I have seen people in the church with some pretty amazing gifts, yet they either lacked love, were still carnal and self seeking in their faith, or yielded to other lustful temptations, being double minded in their walk with God.  All of which means that they still had not worked out their salvation.  Unless we yield to the Spirit and the word in whatever stage of Christianity we are in, we have not yet reached the Promised Land.  We must ever be doers and not hearers only deceiving ourselves.  So wherever you are in your walk with God, be a doer, regardless of the consequences, and your life will ultimately bring you to God.