James wrote: ‘Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves. Those who hear God’s teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like. But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy’ (James 1:22-25 NCV). If we really want to follow God’s will and enjoy the blessings and plans he has for us, we can’t just be passive listeners or readers of God’s Word, forgetting what we’ve learned as soon as our Bibles are closed. We need to let God’s Word into our hearts and allow it to change us. It’s the difference between spending a few hurried moments in the Scripture before rushing into the day, instead of meditating on it until it renews our minds and shapes our characters into the likeness of Jesus. As we read the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit holds a mirror up in front of us so that we can see the truth and make whatever adjustments are necessary. Pay attention to the words, ‘truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law…and they continue to study it.’ To really walk in God’s blessing, we need to keep going back to God Word, keep digging into it, and keep allowing it to change us from within, then He’ll take care of the ‘blessing’ part.

What Now?

Choose a verse or chapter of the Bible that you know well. As you read it, ask God to open your heart to something new in that Scripture. Try researching it online or reading it in different translations, and see what you can discover.