Lots of folks hear the truths of the Bible, shrug their
shoulders and move on, finding little that is relevant to life in
our hostile, fast-paced world. Why? Because the Bible will never be
relevant to our life until we act on what we hear.
Lots of folks hear the truths of the Bible, shrug their shoulders and move on, finding little that is relevant to life in our hostile, fast-paced world. Why? Because the Bible will never be relevant to our life until we act on what we hear.
James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The Greek word translated “listen” in that verse is the source of our English word “audit.” Ever audit a college class? It’s much easier than actually taking the class; you’re not required to take notes or tests and there is no demand to apply what you learn. The reason many of us don’t get what we should from the Scriptures is because we are just “auditing” them. We read what the Bible says, but we never actually apply what we learn. In order for knowledge to be of any value, it must be applied.
An example: suppose you notice that I am getting out of shape and you want to help me, so you buy me a copy of Arnold Swarzenegger’s body building book. You tell me, “this book is fantastic! It will pump you up! You won’t be no girly-man when Arnie is through with you.” I take the book, thank you profusely, and vow to study the book diligently. But six months later you notice that it’s my stomach that’s bulging, not my biceps, so you ask me why.
I say, “Oh yes! I’ve read the book several times. I must say, it’s the greatest book I’ve ever read! It’s tremendous! I even underlined portions of it … in fact, I used colored markers to highlight areas I really liked … I’m just so excited about Arnold’s prophecies of what I’m going to be like one day. I love it so much that I go home from work every night, plop down in my favorite chair and study bodybuilding for hours.”
A silly example, but a serious point: If we want to truly benefit from the Bible, it is not enough to just read it; we must put its principles into practice. Having Bible knowledge doesn’t develop us spiritually any more than bodybuilding knowledge develops us physically. God wants us to put what we read into practice. It’s good to mark our Bible, but we must also let the Bible mark us.
James, to illustrate how this is done, gives three examples in verses 26-27. In essence, he says we must control our tongue, have a caring heart and live a life of integrity. In verse 27 he warns us to “guard against corruption from the godless world.” Many of us underestimate how subtle and pervasive the corruption is. We get so enamored with life’s pleasures that we don’t realize the danger.
Paul Harvey once told a story that makes us uncomfortable but is worthwhile because it offers profound insights on what happens when we neglect to guard against those forces which will corrupt our integrity. The story outlined one way that Eskimos kill wolves: They cover a sharp knife with blood, freeze it, then put it in the woods. The wolf, drawn by the blood, will try to lick it off the knife, slicing his own tongue in the process. But because it is so cold, the wolf never realizes it is his own blood he is licking from the knife and he eventually dies by consuming himself.
Like that wolf, many of us are so busy consuming the corruptions our godless world is offering us that we don’t realize that it’s our souls that are being consumed, not the things we are chasing after.
