2 Timothy 2:15 KJV: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
It’s a new year! Go ahead and call me Captain Obvious, but sometimes stating what is obvious is simply necessary. While I try not to make flippant New Year’s resolutions, regarding spiritual matters I do like to take the occasion as another opportunity to reflect upon my relationship with God. When I see my shortcomings through reflecting upon God’s Word, it benefits me to sharpen my focus and reset my path in accordance with Biblical principles.
The intro to one of my favorite Biblical analogies says it this way: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22 KJV.
James likens someone that is a hearer only to a person who looks at their face in a mirror, but when they walk away they soon forget what they looked like.
He continues to build upon this analogy when he says, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
So the mirror becomes the Word of God (perfect law of liberty), which the true believer is constantly looking into. As proof they not only do the work prescribed in the word, they become the actual word themselves, which is manifested by their deeds, and Christ is glorified. If a person does these things they will be called a Christian, just like the disciples at Antioch. (See Acts 11:26)