Listen and Obey

James 1

19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James lays it all on the line here: listen to God’s Word and do what it says. Period. There is no room for human anger in the Kingdom of God. There is no excuse for those who do not put their faith into action. The tongue must be under control (James speaks more on this later in his letter). Faith in action looks like people taking care of those in need. Not the government, but the people taking care of those in need. The church in America has ceded its God-given responsibility to care for people to the government. No wonder we are in such a mess. Not only in this country, but as a people who claim to want to follow Christ! Listen to what God’s Word says, and obey!