So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.--James 1:19-21
To My Sweet Daughters...
These verses do not mean what I had originally thought them to mean. James is not saying here to be a good listener...swift to hear and slow to speak. Taken in context James is speaking in regard to the word of God. Verse 18 says He brought us forth by His word of truth. God uses His word as the instrument of salvation....Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. He who has ears, it says in Matthew 13, let him hear. God's word is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. It pierces our hearts and works in us to produce fruit in our lives. The first two tests we looked at were about trials and temptations...this one centers on the word of God and how we respond to it. One of the surest signs of salvation in someone's life is a love and an abiding desire for God's word.
"as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby"--1 Peter 2:2
As believers, we are to hunger and thirst for the word as a newborn baby hungers and thirst for milk. God not only uses His word to bring forth the miracle of a changed heart but He also uses it to grow us and nourish us. Our new birth First Peter says is not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which abides forever. The Spirit of God, girls, uses the word of God as we surrender to it, to speak to our hearts and conform us into His image.
We are to be swift...run...to hear the word of God and allow it penetrate our hearts and do the work God has set for it to do.
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it--Isaiah 55:11
James goes on in the same verse to say we are to be slow to speak and his meaning is that although we are to take every opportunity to hear and study the word, we are to be cautious in becoming a teacher of it. The teaching ministry should not be something undertaken lightly. There should be a fear...a holy fear...of misrepresenting the truth. Those who teach the Word of Truth will receive heavier judgment if they fail to practice what they teach. Uh oh....He says this in chapter 3 about those who desire to be teachers.
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.--James 3:1-2
James finishes up verse 19 by saying to be slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Hear and receive the word of God with the right heart attitude. Sin, rebellion and rejection of God's word will not produce the righteousness of God..
James goes on in verse 21 and tells us to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Lay aside or put off your rebellion, your sin and your rejection of the word and receive it...let it implant and grow and do its work in your heart. Sin impedes the hearing and receiving process...put if off! We saw the miracle that occurred when our hearts were first changed by the word of God and salvation came. That very same miracle occurs again and again as we allow His word to penetrate deeply into our hearts and transform us into His likeness.
Receive the word with meekness...with a submissive spirit. Accept it...do not argue with it and do not try to conform it to mean what you might want it to mean. The trials of this life will require its wisdom. Your thinking will need to be renewed by it and your mind transformed. Sin can be avoided by hiding the word in your heart. Comfort, strength and encouragement available any time...day or night. The word girls, is the power of God. It not only saves us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin and eternal damnation but it does much to preserve, sanctify and cleanse us in this life and keep us out of harms way.
The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.--Psalm 25:9
For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist," Says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.-- Isaiah 66:2
Love,
Mom
