Just Do It!

Good Morning Joes and Janes;

A beautiful sunny day in the Montana today!    In this modern world with all of its forms of communication and news dispersal I find that I can slip into a habit of consuming information.  Just this morning I have been on the computer for over half an hour and not really dug into the Bible yet.

I find it easy to find news items, commentaries on religion, politics, world news and yes, even the occasional fluff stories.  When work permits, I may have conservative talk radio on.
With the advent of computers I can watch or listen to pastors and teachers from whenever I desire.  All of this information can be great but, then what?

Let’s look at James 1:19-27 this morning and see what it has to say.   I know I found it thought provoking.  (Otherwise you probably wouldn’t be reading it.)

James 1:19-27

19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  

21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror

24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

25 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.

26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Well, I found those words a little sobering!  I immediately thought of other people who I thought fit in the passage.  People that are always listening to sermons on radio and TV but seldom were really involved in acting on the knowledge they acquired.  But then the Holy Spirit said “what about you?”  Ouch, there goes that verse about removing the log in your own eye before trying to criticize someone else!

I think we can all relate to verse 23 and 24, when it talks about looking in the mirror and then forgetting what he looks like as soon as he walks away.  On an unrelated note I sometimes will look at my cell phone to see what time it is, find a couple of tweets, read them and go back to work only to realize minutes later I still have no idea what time it is.  ADHD or senior moments…I don’t have a clue.

Anyway I can think of multiple times that I have heard a stirring or moving message and honestly thought to myself; “I need to implement this in my life”.   Sometime later I will come across notes I made or in some other way remember the message and realize that I walked away from the message without ever actually doing anything to act on the information.
The now famous Nike ads that say Just Do It! come to mind.  This, I have learned is harder than it sounds.  One must use discipline and energy to make wise use of time, take notes, set goals, check back on the goals and measure what you have accomplished.  Whether talking about my goal of running in a 5 K race, completing a job on time and budget or sharing Christ with others, I have found that effort, planning and goal setting are required.  I must discipline myself in how I use my time and then check back to see if I am meeting my goals that I set.

You might be saying that this all sounds like a lot of work and time!  I agree with you, but I also know from past experience that taking the time to do the planning and goal setting pays off big time in actually being productive and having a sense of fulfillment when you meet the goals.

Verse 27 tells us that just telling others about Christ is not enough.  We need to show them the love of Christ through actions in supporting widows and orphans.  We are also to keep ourselves unpolluted from the world; no easy task for me anyway!

On a related topic; with an ever increasing government that takes more and more in taxes it is convenient to say; “I gave paid my taxes, let the government take care of the widows and orphans…or whatever, when in most cases it is our personal responsibility, not government to fill those needs.

Well, that’s some of my thoughts on today’s text.  Hope this was helpful, uplifting or stimulates you to Just Do It!

Regular Joe

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