But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (James 1:25).
The whole of this great passage may be summed up in little--there is blessing in obedience.
A missionary attempting to learn the language of the people for whom he was laboring, was trying to find a word for obedience, a virtue that was seldom, if ever, practiced in that land. One day as he returned home from the village his dog stayed behind. But when he whistled, the dog came running at top speed. An old man sitting by the roadside said with admiration, "Mui aden delejan ge," a free translation of which would be "Your dog is all ear." That was it! The missionary had found his word for obedience, and a beautiful one it was. We should indeed be "all ear" to our Lord. If God really has our ear, He will have our heart, too. True hearing is obeying. Forgetful hearers are disobedient.
We are to be not only hearers but lookers. We are to look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein; that is, continue our looking and walking in that way.
As boys on the farm, my brother and I used to see who could plow the straightest furrow. We would fix our eye on some distant object at the far end of the field and keep looking at it as we plowed toward it. We had to continue therein. The person who continues looking at God's perfect law continues listening to His perfect words. That person is obedient. And such a one is "blessed in his deed."
Jesus calls us! By Thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear Thy call,
Give our hearts to Thy obedience,
Serve and love Thee best of all.
___Frances Alexander
MEDITATION PRAYER: "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:8).
The whole of this great passage may be summed up in little--there is blessing in obedience.
A missionary attempting to learn the language of the people for whom he was laboring, was trying to find a word for obedience, a virtue that was seldom, if ever, practiced in that land. One day as he returned home from the village his dog stayed behind. But when he whistled, the dog came running at top speed. An old man sitting by the roadside said with admiration, "Mui aden delejan ge," a free translation of which would be "Your dog is all ear." That was it! The missionary had found his word for obedience, and a beautiful one it was. We should indeed be "all ear" to our Lord. If God really has our ear, He will have our heart, too. True hearing is obeying. Forgetful hearers are disobedient.
We are to be not only hearers but lookers. We are to look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein; that is, continue our looking and walking in that way.
As boys on the farm, my brother and I used to see who could plow the straightest furrow. We would fix our eye on some distant object at the far end of the field and keep looking at it as we plowed toward it. We had to continue therein. The person who continues looking at God's perfect law continues listening to His perfect words. That person is obedient. And such a one is "blessed in his deed."
Jesus calls us! By Thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear Thy call,
Give our hearts to Thy obedience,
Serve and love Thee best of all.
___Frances Alexander
MEDITATION PRAYER: "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:8).
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