God calls us to intentionally seek Him. We may question how we are to do that. This devotion looks at James 1: 25 to provide answers.
Nuggets
- We are dedicated to seeking God.
- We focus on what God calls us to do without letting distractions enter our mind.
- We look for what we are not doing that God has called us to do and what we need to change to make it right.
- We are to obey God’s Word.
- We are to be hearers and doers.
I may have told you that my word for the year is intentional, and the verse I have associated with it is James 1: 25. I have this as the wallpaper on my phone and iPad.
I picked this word a couple of months after I had set myself up as Elaine Guthals Ministries and right before I did a soft launch of the website. (I was being intentional in working out the kinks in the website before a full launch.)
Since I have no blogging background and am not a techie in any way, shape, or form, I wanted to make sure I knew all of my options. I knew I wanted to figure out what God was calling me to do and really think through what I was doing and the best way to do it.
But I really haven’t gotten to dig into the verse. So, I thought I would do that today.
Our Approach
“But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does” (Jas. 1: 25 CSB)
Nope, none of the translations have the word “intentional” in it. What they do have are characteristics of being intentional – how we can do things on purpose.
Here is what the translations say: “… must never stop …” (Jas. 1: 25 CEV), “… looks intently …” (Jas. 1: 25 NIV, CSB), “… look carefully …” (Jas. 1: 25 NLT), “… peers …” (Jas. 1: 25 NET), “… gazes …” (Jas. 1: 25 ABPE), “… fixes his view …” (Jas. 1: 25 DBT), “… looks closely …” (Jas. 1: 25 WNT), and “… catches a glimpse …” (Jas. 1: 25 MSG).
If we do something intently, we don’t just it for a minute, and then go on our merry way. We are dedicated to the task at hand. We give it all we’ve got and don’t stop.
The rest of the translations define the action. We focus on the task without letting distractions enter our mind. We have a plan on how we are going to do the action. Yes, there may be difficulties, but we take the time to figure it out.
We zero in on it and look at all the nuances. To me, that is being intentional. We need to do all of that when seeking God.
Then “… catches a glimpse …” (Jas. 1: 25 MSG) showed up. I’m going, “What???”
But after I thought about it a bit, I can see that, too. How many times, when we complete a task, are we just doing it based on what we already know?
What if that “… catches a glimpse …” (Jas. 1: 25 MSG) is a new kernel of information or a new way to do something (gasp, different?!?)? What if that is how God wants us to grow?
Our Task
God has given us a specific task to accomplish. “… looks intently into the perfect law of freedom …” (Jas. 1: 25 CSB).
The law James is talking about is the laws and commandments, but it is also a standard of conduct. His readers were used to the Old Testament law. James was calling them — and us — to reflect Jesus. We are to obey God’s Word.
James’ whole point in his book is that believers have to be hearers and doers. We can’t just read/listen to the sermon on Sunday as we sit in our favorite pew and leave it there for us to pick up the next week. We can’t just read it in our devotional time and drop it.
If we are looking intentionally, we are looking for what we are not doing that God has called us to do and what we need to change to make it right.
Are we loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Mk. 12: 30)? Do we love our neighbors and enemies (Mk. 12: 31, Lk. 6: 35)? Are we following the Ten Commandments? Have we come after Jesus, denied ourselves, taken up our crosses, and followed Him (Lk. 9: 23)?
To read devotions in the What Does It Mean series, click the appropriate button below.
Our task is to seek God. Once we know what He is calling us to do, we have to do it.
Our Reward
God rewards those who are faithful to Him. “… God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget” (Jas. 1: 25 CEV).
Don’t you love that? “… listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget” (Jas. 1: 25 CEV).
Don’t just read it, say it was a nice story, and put it on a shelf. Don’t read it and say it is something we need to think about but let the worries of the day drive it out of your mind.
James calls us to be hearers and doers. We have to put into practice what a good calls us to do.
I think, many times, we think the doing part is the Matthew 25: 35-36 hungry-gave-me-food, thirsty-gave-me-drink, etc. bit. It isn’t.
The doing part is navigating the Sanctification Road so that we will become more like God. It is changing our character.
- Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration, gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal requickening in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- The perfected state indicates the combination of the spiritual graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Making the Connections
Sometimes, I wish there was a list — a list of all the do’s and don’ts. Yes, I hear you. We have a list. It is called the Bible.
But the Ten Commandments are in Exodus. All of Jesus’ stuff is in the New Testament. It is all buried in slingshots and being fish food and using a few fish to feed a lot of people.
I am afraid I am going to forget something.
God isn’t interested in us checking off whether we have or haven’t obeyed a law. The laws reveal God’s character to us. God wants us to understand why the law or commandment is given. He wants us to imitate Him.
I think the Pharisees in Jesus’ day tried the checklist approach. It wasn’t enough.
Jesus still had to die. We couldn’t do enough to earn salvation. We can’t not do all of the don’ts all the time.
Once we’ve gained salvation, we need to follow the laws and commandments. This is how we imitate God.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to intentionally seek God, not just His rules. We have to keep looking at His Word. We have to be hearers and doers, and not forget. We have to listen and obey.
We have to remember we are a work in progress. We have to ask forgiveness when we aren’t intentional, when we don’t hear and do, when we forget, and when we don’t obey.
When we intentionally seek God, we will see that we don’t have to do it on our own. He is here to guide us every step of the way. Let’s let Him.
Father God. We want to intentionally seek You. We want to hear and listen. We want to do Your Will. We want to obey. We don’t want to have this world make us forget. We seek Your guidance. Work in us and work through us. Amen.
God has blessed us recently by ensuring that Adam and I can participate in a mission trip. We are looking forward to doing His Will and spreading His Word to others.
What do you think?
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