Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Listen to the Word

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25)

This week’s verse tells us four things to do with God’s freedom-giving Word. First, it tells us to look intently into it. The other day I dug through a drawer piled high with stuff. I was looking for a gift card someone had given me, and I knew it was in that drawer, so I was looking intently for it. The intent look is more than a casual glance. It is looking with an attitude that says, “What I’m looking for is critically important, and I won’t give up until I see it.” James calls us to more than going through the Bible’s pages half-heartedly. He wants us to look intently - to approach it as the source of life and truth and wisdom and joy and hope and freedom.

Live the Word

Choose a brief section of Scripture, perhaps Philippians 4:4-7 or 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, and look intently into it. Approach it expectantly, and pay careful attention to everything it says.