Hearer and Doers

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

Jesus didn’t pull any punches when it came to telling the truth. Sometimes He said things that were like a punch in the solar plexus, which nearly takes your breath away. One such Scripture was recorded by Matthew. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” [Matthew 7:21-23 - NIV]. 

Ouch! Here, the Lord made it crystal clear that there is a distinction between professing Christ followers and true Christ followers. What is the difference, you ask? True Christ followers hear and obey the Word of God. Or, as Jesus said, true Christ followers “do the will of the Father.” James, the brother of Jesus, and the author of the book bearing his name, said something similar. He called true Christ followers “doers of the Word.” Those who merely heard the Word, but did nothing about it, were deluded into thinking they were Christ followers.

What are “hearers” like? They are like many people who are content to sit in church services each week and hear the Word, but never seem to change. They hear, but never apply the Word to their lives. Like the people that Jesus condemned in Matthew 7, they are comfortable with religious activity rather than true faith in Christ. 

One of the saddest things that could happen to anyone who thinks they are saved, but are not, is to hear Jesus say on that day, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” That will happen to hearers, but never to a doer of the Word. 

It’s a delusion to think you can hear the Word of God, then dismiss it, or disobey it, without cost.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22