“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22
What Do You Think About This?
Imagine a scenario where you ask your son to mow the yard.
After a few days the yard isn’t mowed. He tells you not to worry, he thinks about what you told him every day. He’s memorized what you said. He’s been reading books about how other people mow their yard. He’s even been talking to his friends and they are forming a study group to discuss what it would look like to mow the yard.
I shudder to think how this scenario would have played out when I was growing up. It would not have ended well.
A Familiar Situation
But what about when it comes to our heavenly Father? Does this scenario sound more familiar?
James 1:22 says “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Our faith cannot be restricted to consumer based activities like, going to church, participating in a Bible study, reading the Bible, or even participating in an MD5 cohort.
These “consumer-based” activities are intended to equip us to be doers - to be conduits sharing our knowledge, experience, and love for Christ with others.
Heavenly Expectations
As a child my father gave me responsibilities.
He didn’t just tell me what to do, he gave me opportunities to do it, and he expected that I would. This was his way of helping me grow and mature. God’s Word is not just a book to be consumed but to be internalized and lived out.
In MD5 we discovered what God wants us to do and then we developed a Life Plan to determine how we would live that out. Our Life Plan was our transition from being a consumer to being a conduit – moving from a hearer to a doer.
Application
How are you doing with your Life Plan? Have you made the transition from consumer to conduit? From hearer to doer?
John Meriweather
MD5 Facilitator