“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” James 1:21-24
Today’s Christian daily devotional
“Oh give me a minute. I know I’ve got it somewhere!” Mrs. McCraig opened the door, but she turned so fast that she almost clipped my nose an inch.
“Should I just wait outside?” I stopped the mahogany door with my palm, speaking loudly through the decent crack.
“No, no, silly. Come inside. Please excuse my mess, though. I haven’t had the time to clean.” She mumbled while rifling though a stack of papers burying a gorgeous fireplace mantle. What a sorry sight to see such a fabulous vintage find hidden under bills and newspapers.
Mrs. McCraig had been in retirement for almost twenty years. If she hadn’t found the time to clean her magnificent home by now, the odds were she probably never would.
I scanned the room for an open spot to sit. The variety of clutter that engulfed us was distracting to say the least.
Creating a makeshift chair out of a stack of Reader’s Digests dated from 1982, I hunkered down. I resolved it would be easier on my nerves if I just let go of any delusion of getting out of there any time soon.
“Ah! Here it is!” Her voice and news startles me.
“That’s funny…I didn’t even think to look on my bookshelf.” Mrs. McCraig chuckles at her obvious discovery; dusting off her find. She proudly hands the book to me as if she just wrestled a pearl from a live oyster.
“Getting Your Life In Order By Getting Your Home In Order.” Reading the title to myself, I crack the loose binding open. Notes are scrawled in the margins, lines are highlighted in yellow and several pages are bent. It is obvious that this little number has been revisited on several occasions.
“Tell your mother that I she can borrow it for as long as she needs…but I do want it back. It’s one of my favorites.” I stifle a snicker that almost escapes; the irony is almost too much for me to bear.
In James 1:21-24 we are reminded of how foolish it is to continue feeding on wisdom if we don’t take the time to actually digest it and allow it to change us.
How many people do you know that know all the “right” things to say, and all the “right” things to do, but never seem to carry any power or blessing in their lives?
Simply ‘knowing’ something is not enough. The actual wealth from wisdom comes in the practice of it, not just in the preaching or hearing of it.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I want to be wise. I need to be wise. Oh, Lord I need so much help with this.
How many times do I hear your word, read a good book or listen to some amazing preaching and still continue doing what I always do?
I want to change, but hardly bring myself to actually do what I know I need to do.
Today, I commit myself to obeying the voice of wisdom. I know my life will be better for it. I am ready to take the wisdom from your word and apply it to my life with action. Give me the tenacity to continue on the quest and to not give up when I slip up. Help me to remember that I can simply dust myself off and pray for strength and to keep on obeying even when it hurts; because that is what mature believers do.
I am ready to grow up now. In Jesus’ precious name, because He died so I could have a fabulous and abundant life, Amen.”
Thank you for reading today’s Christian daily devotional on verses: James 1:21-24
Please check back and see what we have for you tomorrow!
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan