Doers of the Word

This post was written by Matt Meyer, CCM board member and director emeritus.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law plead against them” (Proverbs 28:4).

After a number of weeks of coming for counseling, a young
Chinese woman recently* called on God to forgive her sins. For several weeks
before that, she was sure that God was real and good and that she was a sinner,
but she was having a hard time connecting her sin with the death of Christ on
the cross. When she was asked to describe what she meant by “being a sinner,”
it was clear that her focus was horizontal instead of vertical. She thought she
was sinning against her husband, her family, and herself. When she finally
understood that our sin (or lawlessness as John describes it) is first against
God, the lights came on. “I’ve broken God’s laws,” she repeated numerous times
as the realization finally hit home.

Do we have the same sense that we are breaking God’s laws
when we avoid Bible passages that hit too close to home or perhaps are just a
little too inconvenient?

This woman had a number of good questions that followed her
prayer of confession. What church should I attend? Do I need to support the
church now? How do I pray? How often should I pray? I’m such a little baby, and
I need to learn so much.

As we worked through the Lord’s teaching on prayer, we also
turned to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Instead of worrying about everything in the Bible, we
suggested that she start by just practicing these three verses diligently.

“But this is impossible,” she responded. 

We assured her that this was the point. If you really try to
give thanks for everything, you will find yourself praying continually—either
confessing your sin of thanklessness, or asking God to help you be thankful, or
praising Him with thanks. Then, when you are thankful, rejoicing will surely
follow.

Like this new believer, we need to be diligent that our joy
is not burdened by active disobedience or unconfessed sin.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who
keep the law plead against them” (Proverbs 28:4).

In the Living translation, the second half of this verse
reads: “those who obey the law fight against evil.” Like much of the Bible,
this verse is much more understandable and applicable than we would at first
think.

Isn’t it enough to have just read or even memorized the
passage? No. James commands us to “become doers of the Word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Matt Meyer

*Written January 2007.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.