Many mothers, maybe mine, have asked a child, “Did you hear me?” The question is often followed by an amazing answer that indicates the child heard every word. Mothers are thus frustrated knowing the child heard their words but did not act upon them.
God’s Word is able to save the soul and should be received with humble submission. God seemingly has the same frustrations as some mothers, since people hear the Word without doing anything, making hearing the Word of God an act of futility. Our Lord’s half-brother wrote, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:21-22). Guy N. Woods said the verb tense of the word “doers” denotes a continuous action.
The same action is seen in Paul’s description of some of those who Christ will judge worthy of vengeance. That group will not keep on obeying the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). We are deceived when we think all that we have to do is hear the truth. Hearing must produce a faith that acts. Such faith is produced by hearing God’s Word, as well as believing He exists and will reward those who diligently seek him (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:6).
James used a parable (James 1:23-25) to illustrate the point of verse 22. A person who looks in a mirror to check his appearance but goes away without correcting the problems he sees is like the one who hears but does nothing. The other character in the parable “looks,” which Woods says means “to stoop and look, to gaze intently.” This man stands in stark contrast to the one who only glanced in the mirror and did nothing about the things he saw amiss. The one worthy of commendation carefully examines himself, intending to correct every flaw.
Each of us needs to set our sights on really hearing what God says. We can accomplish our purpose by carefully reading God’s Word to fully understand it. We, then, can demonstrate our hearing by doing what Scripture tells us to do.
