- "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (1:22). There's no question that reading and responding to God's Word will benefit our lives by drawing us nearer to Him - that's really what studying the Bible is all about.
- For further study, read Psalm 119:97-104. How does James' attitude towards God's law compare to the one described in this passage? In light of what you've read, what is your attitude toward God's law? [Answer as a comment below]
Thursday, May 12, 2011
James - lesson 1 - a letter from a friend
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James' attitude towards God's law compared to Psalm 119:97-104 is more the attitude of a teacher teaching his/her student, while the attitude of the verses in Psalm is more the attitude when you are "one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing." and have received such a blessing. One part of the scripture tells and beckons us to what will be experienced if we follow God's law and the other part of scripture tells us the experience of what it is like to follow God's law thoroughly and fully. In a way it almost is like a voice of God compared to the voice of man. James' attitude seems to more a strict mandatory tone and being vigilant in transforming what we have learned and hear into true and faithful action. It is a command. David's attitude (i think its David who made this psalm) is more a free which makes sense as it states in James that God's law is a "law of liberty", it's like he has been set free from all evil, prevalent in the riches of God, in truth and goodness all through God's help and law.
ReplyDeleteIn light of what I've read my attitude towards God's law is one of hopefulness and 很大期望 to be set free. In my mind, not following God's law leads you to be bound by the chains and burdens of this world which i have and am experiencing, the hope for myself to fully devote and follow God and His law is HUGE, waiting for the day where i am fully relying and abandoning my own will and accepting only his, the day where rather than forcing myself to God's law, struggling by myself, God's law would be incorporated into my own life with God's help, the image i have in my mind is God carrying me in his arms like a baby where the ditches (representing evil i wouldve done)is easily stepped over with God's help, even small puddle ditches where my baby feet would've tripped at. That is my attitude to God's law. Although there is such a hope there is also almost a disbelief of when God's law will fully prevail in me, how long must i wait? God has his time yet i am rushed, i am human, i am flawed. And so there is hope but also my attitude is also one of hesitation, of fear. Hopefully the God uses the hope to wipe away the fear and i may learn to "being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts,"