‘Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.’ James 1:22 NKJV

Why does the Bible say, ‘Be doers of the word, and not hearers only’? Because hearing without doing becomes boring - every time. You can get to the place where you’ve heard so much preaching and teaching that you say to yourself, ‘Oh no, not another sermon!’. The problem isn’t the Word; it’s that you’ve become oversaturated and spiritually numb. You’re bored because you aren’t putting it into practice and reaping the rewards of what you’ve heard.

Jesus said, ‘If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’ (John 13:17 NKJV). Once you start doing what you’ve been told to do, you won’t have time to be bored. The phrase ‘hearers only’ is from the Greek noun akroates. Today we’d use it to describe students who sit in on a class just to hear the teaching, instead of taking any assessment or being graded. Or those who use YouTube to listen to sermon after sermon as a substitue for actually going to church. These folks weren’t interested in learning, passing exams, earning a degree, getting deep into the message and going out to make a difference in the world. They were there because they found it intellectually stimulating, and they loved the excitement of being with the crowd or the charisma of the speaker. Often they followed their favourite teacher or preacher from one town to another; they loved new speakers, and when the class ended they’d get together to eat, drink, laugh, and discuss what they’d heard. Mostly, they just wanted to look knowledgeable in each other’s eyes.

Don’t let that happen to you. ‘Remember…knowing what is right to do and…not doing it is sin’ (James 4:17 TLB). Open your heart to the truths you’ve heard preached and begin to put them to work in your life. When you do, rest assured you’ll never again suffer from spiritual boredom.

Adapted from Word for Today.

The Winans sing ‘Trust in God’. Click on the picture to listen.