by Rebekah Harvey
We are all given the choice to listen to and obey God’s Word or to hear it and forget what it says and walk away. The Lord does not force obedience on His children. We are warned in James that if we only sit and listen we are fooling ourselves and it is like looking in a mirror and seeing that we are a mess and walking away doing nothing and forgetting we are a mess!

James 1:22-25
“Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard.” (Easy Read Version)

Making the decision to spend time reading God’s Word, listening for His voice and then being obedient can seem like a difficult thing. Sometimes it is much harder than others, we also know that when we start an exercise plan or eating better that is difficult too, but it is for future benefit. When we choose the discipline of spending time with God we will be able to hear Him speak into our lives and avoid things we shouldn’t get involved with. Everything won’t be perfect all the time, but choosing to hear and obey will help us to remember what we look like and not fool ourselves, allowing God’s blessing on our lives.