Listen and act
This week I have been reading James. This is a short New Testament letter written around 48-50AD. It’s author, James, was the brother of Jesus and he was the leader of the church in Jerusalem. This is a practical pastoral letter where James addresses certain aspects of Christian living...
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.”
The church in Jerusalem would regularly have heard the Old Testament scriptures being read and had ‘talks’ from their leaders. However, James had to remind them that it was not enough just listen - they had to do something about it! What they heard should result in action! This is still true today. We have access to countless translations of the Bible, books, podcasts and YouTube clips. They are fine - but if we don’t ‘act on what we hear’ then we are just the same as the people James wrote to! What have you heard and more importantly, how do you need to respond?
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader