Yesterday, we talked about hungering for the Word, and that’s necessary if we want to be faithful New Testament Christians. But today I want to move one step further. You see, it’s not enough to come together often and study God’s word often and expose yourself to the truth often. We actually have to do the things we hear and study.

At the conclusion of His sermon on the mount, Jesus said there were two types of people: wise and foolish. Notice that both groups of people hear the Word:

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

In order to be wise, we must be hearers and doers. James said that if we are simply hearers and not doers, we are deceiving ourselves into thinking we’re righteous, when in reality we aren’t (James 1:22). Simply hearing the teachings of God but not applying those truths to our hearts doesn’t help us! Jesus said applying truth (keeping the commandments of God) meant that you loved Him (John 14:15). Those who don’t love Jesus (who don’t apply truth) surely won’t be in heaven with Him, will they?

So how do we become doers? How do we hunger and thirst and then apply the inspired Word of God to our lives? I’m sure there are different approaches for everyone, but I’ll just offer what I like to do/what I find to be helpful in my own life.

You can probably already tell that I like toe-stepping things. My husband will attest to the fact that the sermons  benefit the most from are the ones that give me a lot of things to improve upon in my own life. Sure, it’s important to edify and encourage, but I think we also need to be rebuked and called out for the shortcomings in our lives. I’d much rather have someone tell me now that I’m not being who I am called to be, rather than hear it on the Judgment Day! So, if you want to be a doer of the word, find an area in your life where you struggle!

Perhaps you’ve got one of those plank sins that sticks out of your life in a pretty obvious way. Maybe you are involved in a relationship that God does not deem acceptable. Maybe you’re participating in homosexuality or fornication. Maybe you’ve committed a crime. You can remedy all of those things though, by studying the scriptures and ridding your life of these things that God finds abhorrent. Sure, it may be difficult, but the Bible is replete with stories of real people who did hard things in order to be right in the sight of God (read Ezra 10:10-19,44 for an example).

Maybe you don’t struggle with something so public. Perhaps in order for you to be righteous and a doer of God’s Word, you need to do a little more digging. Because we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23), we know that there are always going to be areas in our lives that need work. For example, I need study (and application!) on patience, attitude, and holiness. Maybe you struggle with gossip or bitterness or anger or neglect of your God-given responsibilities in the home (submission, etc.). Whatever it is, face those struggles head on! We don’t have apostles who will come up and tell us that our hearts aren’t right (Acts 8:18-24), but if we will honestly examine scripture, it will always shine the light on our darkest parts.

I don’t know your heart, but I know we all have struggles. I also know that hearing that something we’re doing is wrong isn’t enough. We actually have to work to fix it. If there is anything at all I can do to help you or encourage you, please email me at emily@emilyhat.com or Facebook message me! Let’s all strive together for heaven, and all honestly examine ourselves and become hungry and thirsty to both hear and do God’s Word!