Just Do

James 1:22 NLT

But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

We spend years learning things in school and most of it we never use in our lifetime. Well maybe we call on some of it in trivia games. But we each learned things we needed as we moved on in our lives and we each needed different pieces of that education.

Then we moved on to our next chapter, the one where we found a profession and began to use some of those tools we picked up in our worldly education. Even though we knew some basics from school we did not really get to how to use them until we used them. Doing made it real and allowed us to learn even more. 

As we "do", our knowledge grows as we experience things hands on. This experiential knowledge is more valuable than book knowledge. The book or whatever our method of learning was propelled us into life experiences that allowed us to obtain experiential knowledge and grow in that area of our life.

One way many experience God's word today is by listening to a teaching or sermon at church or on television or even on the Internet. There is a lot of good messages out there to listen to and many use scripture throughout. 

However, this is not digging into God's word for ourselves. I know God may speak to us through those messages, but how much more when we are in His word for ourselves. I believe the most important way He speaks to us today is through His written word, our Bible. When we read it what we "hear" is not filtered through someone else's experiences.

When God reveals His truth to us we are not to just make a note or bookmark the passages. We are to do what it says. And as we do it, we experience if for ourselves and grow to a new level in Christ.