APRIL 26
Do You Remember What You Saw in the Mirror This Morning?
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 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 beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” - James 1:22-25
James gives this description of a man who hears the Word but doesn’t practice it. He says you are like a person who wakes up in the morning and his beard is grown out, his hair is tousled, he has bags under his eyes, and he's still got soup on his mustache from last night! He glances in the mirror, sees he needs to put his face in shape, but he just goes his way and goes off to work! He forgets what he saw in the mirror. There’s no change—no bathing, no shaving, no combing. He's just like he was! He glanced in the mirror, saw it, and forgot it.
Notice this verse says one person “observes”—and soon forgets. The other “looks into” and continues—he obeys the Word of God. “Beholding” or “observing” means a casual glance. “Looking into” means a careful gaze. It’s the same word used when the disciples raced to the empty tomb, and bending over, they peer into the darkness intently, with eyes set, searching, trying to see everything that they can see. It means to look steadfastly.
That's the way you're to look into the Word of God. Not just a casual glance but a steadfast, careful, gazing into the Word and a careful examination of the Word. Look into it, pick it up, read it, study it, scrutinize it.
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