School Pictures

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 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; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25 NASB

A couple weeks ago, our school pictures were delivered. As a teacher, I have to have a school picture taken every year. There have been some years when I got that picture back and thought, “Why didn’t someone tell me to fix my hair!?” I have had pictures where there was a crazy curl going haywire and looking ridiculous. Once I had a necklace that wasn’t lying right. If someone would have just told me, I would have straightened these things up before the picture that captured it for all time!

Have you ever gotten to school and realized that you should have checked your reflection one more time before you left the house? You know, like, you only got your eye makeup on one eye. Or you got interrupted when you were curling your hair and forgot to go back and finish it? Maybe you’ve gotten to school and realized you buttoned up crooked, or your shoes are not a matching pair. These things happen to some people, I’m told! But if you had checked your reflection and noticed one of these problems, it would be absurd to think that you would walk away without fixing the blunder.

That is what James is talking about in this passage about hearing and doing. When we understand a truth from God’s word, we shouldn’t walk away and not put that truth into practice.

I’m certain that every single teacher has experienced the frustration of a student who hears just fine, but never listens. Recently, I experienced this at home with one of my sons. I was speaking to him, giving him instructions about the plans for the day, and he was walking away. When I stopped him and asked if he was listening he said he was. But when I asked him to repeat the instructions I’d just uttered, he couldn’t. He had no idea what I had said. Now, he heard my voice, don’t misunderstand. But he was not listening. He did not allow my words into his conscious thoughts to process them and remember them. There was no way he could do what I said later.

How do I know a student or family member or coworker is really listening to me? One way I know for sure that they were listening is if that person does what I said to do. If he follows my instructions, I know without a doubt that he not only heard me, but he was really listening. His actions prove it. And that’s how James says it should be when we hear a word from God. Our actions will prove if we were really listening.

It’s really not enough to read the Bible if I don’t allow it to change me. I can hear a lifetime of sermons, but gain nothing from them. I must not only hear the word, but truly listen and do what it says.

As a teacher, I am used to being the one talking and delivering that oh so important information. I don’t practice listening as much as I do talking! And I know I need to improve my listening skills. I’m positive that God agrees! I know I need to do a better job of listening intently for His voice and then doing whatever it is I heard from Him.

Father, thank you for Your patience with me and my inattentiveness to Your voice. Help me to remember to stop and listen for You today, and grant me the courage I need to step out in faith and follow Your instructions.

For Small Groups:
Share a strategy that you use in your classroom that helps students to listen and follow directions. Is there something we can learn from your strategy that would help us with our spiritual listening?