James: Week 2

Have you ever said you were going to do something but you didn’t? Like has your mom ever asked you to take something out of the freezer for dinner before she gets home? You say yes but of course after 10 minutes of video games you have forgotten the conversation even happened and before you know it you hear your mom coming through the door and realize you are doomed and so is dinner. Or you said you’d get better grades on your next test even if you have to stay up all night. But instead of staying up all night studying you watch tik toks until 3am and wake up late for class. Something tells me you aren’t getting a better grade?

How about this: Have you ever said you love something but what you do tells a different story? It could be something simple like “ I love chocolate ice cream “ but all you order is mint chip and never chocolate. I would guess you don’t LOVE chocolate ice cream like you are saying. Or maybe it’s something more serious. Maybe you have seen parents say they loved one another or you but with their actions they express hatred and anger. It would cause you to question them right? Or if your best friend says they have your back no matter what but they are constantly gossiping about you. Would you believe them?

All these scenarios have one thing in common. The action doesn’t match the words. I am gonna throw another scenario at you. Don’t answer this one out loud: Have you ever told someone you are a Christian and they acted shocked? As if they had no idea you were a follower of Jesus?

Why do you think they were so shocked? I think in most scenarios they are shocked because you don’t live like it. You say you are a Christian but you live like everyone else. So when someone at school sees you they just see a typical student who is doing the same thing as everyone else.

The only difference between your life and everyone else's is the fact that you spend Sunday morning at church and crack open your Bible every once in a while. You make no effort to speak differently or act differently than everyone else. You know what the Word of God says, you claim to be a Christian who wants to follow it, yet you don’t do it.

I think all Christians have struggled with this. We go to church and read the Bible but we don’t do anything with it. The reason I think this is a common struggle is because James writes about it in James 1: 22-25,

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

Basically he is saying anyone who hears God’s Word but doesn’t do anything about it is foolish. They are convinced that it’s just enough to read God’s Word or go to church and hear about it but not let it change anything about their lives. But they are wrong when we live like that.

When we hear the Word of God and don’t do anything about it. We become hypocrites. We waste our time. We become know-it-alls who are quick to point out the flaws in others but not ourselves. We go to church on Sunday and cuss out our friends at school on Monday or sleep around Friday night. We say we love God but we sure don’t act like it. And when people look at our lives they have no idea that we are any different than everybody else.

But when we do what the Bible says we are kinder, wiser, more loving, more at peace, and less selfish. We actually make a difference in the world. Doesn’t that sound like a pretty good thing to be? Doesn’t that sound like the kind of person you want to be? That is the kind of person that people notice something is different about them.

When people notice that your life is different they start asking questions and then you have the opportunity to share Jesus with them. Which according to God’s Word is exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

For the people James was writing to. This was a big deal. Doing the Word of God for them was sharing the Gospel even if it meant being arrested and beaten. It meant refusing to bow to kings and leaders who would have them deny Christ. They had to put all their faith and trust in God’s Word and believe that it was true. Because for them it was life and death. The entire world was telling them to ignore God's Word but James was saying listen to God’s Word and do what it says because it is all you have to cling to.

Things are a little different for us. Doing God’s Word is not likely to get us killed. Doing the Word of God for us means knowing what it says about our relationships and obeying it. It means sharing our faith with our friends even if it means we get made fun of or lose friendships. It means saying no to drugs and alcohol and pornography and all these things that the devil wants to use to distract you. It means being kind. It means refusing to gossip. It means living differently than everyone at your school.

Now you may be wondering. Why? Why would I want to live like that if it means losing friendships or looking different at school? Why would I care about the way I treat people or if my relationships are honoring to God. Why should I care about doing what the Word of God says? I think Jesus says it best in Matthew 7:24-26,

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Ultimately here is what it comes down to. You can hear the word of God, ignore it and live however you want and you will fall apart. Storms in life will come and you won’t have anything to hold onto. You will fall for temptation and lies because to you the Word of God is nothing more than a book with nice stories and church is just a place to mess around with your friends. Before you know it you will crumble and you will hit rock bottom.

Or you can hear the Word of God and actually do what it says. You can use it as a guide through life. So when storms come you know where to turn. When you’re tempted to do something stupid or the world tries to convince you you aren’t worthy. You know how to fight those lies because you have been living out the Word of God. When people look at your life they won’t see a hypocrite but they will see someone who actually loves the Lord and wants to live for Him. You will be ready for anything life has to throw at you.

If you are a Christian. Why wouldn’t you care what the Word of God says? When you say “I am a Christian” You are effectively saying I love the God of the Universe. I believe His Son died and rose again for me, and I have trusted Him with my life” If you trust Him with your life why wouldn’t you listen to Him? If you believe He loves you and knows what is best for you why would you ignore Him when He gives you guidance.

Take a relationship for example. Say a boyfriend and girlfriend are talking, The girlfriend tells the boyfriend exactly what she wants for her birthday. He listens, he even writes it down. He goes out and tells all his friends what she told him. He knows what she said. But her birthday comes around, she opens her present from him and it’s not what she wanted. And she is so confused. They talked about it. He knew what she wanted. He decided he had a better idea. See the issue wasn’t that he didn’t know what she had said, the issue was he didn’t care because he decided he knew better.

Most of you, your issue isn’t you don’t know what God has said. You know what God says about sex and partying and gossip and lying. But you’ve decided that you have a better idea. So you will go to church and you will pray and you will tell all your friends about what God said. But you will continually go back and do it your own way. And you will regret it. You will miss out on the security and the blessings that come with obedience. You will get hurt over and over again because instead of trusting God and His Word you did your own thing.

It’s time for us to do more than listen to the Word of God. It is time for us to actually obey it. So here is what I want you to do today. Don’t wait til tomorrow or next week but go home today and do these three things.

        1. Pick something to DO
Here is what I mean. There is probably something in all of our lives that we are doing even though we know the Word of God tells us not to. We’re gonna change that. So if you need to stop lying, write it down. Maybe you need to stop gossiping or sleeping with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Whatever it is, write it down. Maybe it’s not something you need to stop doing but something you need to start doing. What is the Bible telling you to do that you have been ignoring? How can you start doing that this week?
        2. Pray
We can’t change anything on our own. But as a Christian you can ask God for help and the Holy Spirit who is living inside of you can guide and convict you and help you start to change.
        3. Call a friend and tell them
Tell them you want to start obeying God’s Word and you need their help. Ask them to pray for you and hold you accountable. So you can start doing what God has been calling you to do for a long long time.