But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror—for once he looks at himself and goes away, he immediately forgets what sort of person he was. Jacob (James) 1:22-24, TLV

This is a meaty passage. My take away is that I have a choice to be a doer of God’s word or only a hearer.

A doer will try their best to live out His word, while a hearer feels good — or convicted — in the moment but makes little or no effort to live it.

Just because we hear the siren of an emergency vehicle, it doesn’t make us a fire fighter or emergency technician.

Or, we can hear the siren, but if we don’t get out of the way we will either be harmed or cause harm, maybe both.

We can even teach others about the siren but if we are not doers — livers — of that truth we delude ourselves and devalue God’s word. And, our example could harm others.

Being a doer doesn’t mean we understand God’s word perfectly, it just means we want to and we try to live it the best we can. Even in our imperfection we learn more about our Heavenly Father and ourselves.

Hear, listen, do, and live it. Every single day.