LISTEN
NASB:
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.
NIV:
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.
Observations:
Anyone can benefit from the word of God.
It is possible to hear the word without doing what it says.
Our listening to the word of God is comparable to looking in a mirror. And notice he says looking at our natural face. Our raw, true lives are tested and reflected by scripture.
In the next verse, 24, James goes on to say that the man who hears but doesn’t do the word is likened to forgetting the reflection that was in the mirror.
Takeaways:
Hear the word of God. The only way we are going to hear it is to open it and devour it.
Do what the word of God says. It is not enough just to hear it, we must put it into action.
Don’t forget what the mirror shows us. Hearing the word of God is like looking in a mirror, so we should not forget what we see.
