James 1:22 - Don't just hear, listen

James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. I do not know about how it is with most folks but at my house I tend to get in trouble when I do not listen to my wife. She will talk to me and tell me all kind of stuff for me to do but for some reason it does not make its way into my brain. She will ask “are you even listening to me?” I will usually repeat what she had said and that gets me off the hook. But, just because I can repeat what she said, that does not mean I was listening. We do the same thing when it comes to the word of God. We will hear it but are we really listening to what it tells us? My wife can tell me I need to take out the trash, but if I don’t pay attention and make an effort to actually do what she ask, how can I say I was listening to her? Now, my wife is smart, she started to write everything I need to do on a dry erase board for me. So now, if I ever neglect to listen all I have to do is look at the board and read what I need to do. God did the same thing. While He may not have a dry erase board (all time great invention by the way) He did put everything we needed to know into the bible. It is up to us to read it or hear it, listen to what it is saying to us, then to carry it out in our lives. Listening is great, but it does not do us any good if we do not put what we listened to into practice. Do not deceive yourself and try to convince yourself that you are doing what you are supposed to if you know you are not. Listen to the word and let it speak to your heart. Once you know the truth and the way, the only real choice you will have left to you is to do what it says and obey.