(James 1:22-25 HCSB) But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works — this person will be blessed in what he does.

The word for “doer” in the Greek language is the word from which we get the English word “poet.” A poet was a performer, so it was natural to associate performing with doing. We can’t just talk about what the Bible says or listen to our teacher (even intently, the word for listening is an intensive form), we must perform what the Bible tells us to do. Actions speak louder than words. They will believe what you do, not what you say. The proof is in the pudding. These are ways of saying that talk is cheap and that we expect more than lip-service in the family of God.

Already self-deception has been raised on numerous occasions in this first chapter of James. For instance, a person who doubts shouldn’t deceive himself into thinking that he will receive what he requests (verse 7). A person shouldn’t deceive himself into thinking that God is tempting him or that God isn’t the source of goodness and blessing (verse 16). And he shouldn’t deceive himself into thinking that the source of sin is can be blamed on God or others. Self-deception is the worst form of deception. We believe the lies we tell ourselves. Here, we believe that we are benefited in some way be merely listening to a good talk, a challenging sermon, a devotional reading, or a passage of Scripture. We may come away from a time of worship inspired by the moving music, the uplifting message, the electrifying atmosphere, the encouraging words, the accepting hugs and handshakes. We may leave thinking that the problems in our lives will now suddenly be resolved or that the challenging circumstances will disappear. We are in for a huge let down.

I always hated mirrors. They are so accurate and unforgiving. They show exactly what is there. I have this “Robert Redford” idea of myself and my appearance. I may think that I am a dapper, debonair debutante, but the mirror reveals a hick from the sticks. I may not notice that big mole on the side of my nose, but the mirror shows it anyway (and each grandchild has asked about it, wondering what it was, why it was there, and how I got it, before playing with it). I used to try to apologize for it, to change the subject of the conversation, or to act like I didn’t hear the comment. Now, when someone asks about it, I tell them that God gave me a mole because I’m special (grin, wink). If we only glance in the mirror and do nothing to change or improve what we observe, we accomplish nothing from the effort. We look to admire, to check for minor anomalies, or to make modest adjustments. But the look remains the same.

The intense gaze will reveal all of the imperfections, all of the problem areas, all of the needed changes. The intense gaze affords the opportunity to really notice all that is wrong and make all of the necessary modifications. The intense gaze is more painful than the passing glance because it places us under the focused scrutiny of detailed inspection. We only avoid the intense gaze when we don’t really want to know the truth about ourselves or we suspect problems but don’t really want to deal with the issues or make the painful changes that need to be made. I suspect that the reason many Christians avoid a study of God’s Word is this very reason. The laser light of the Word beams its focus directly on the areas where immediate correction is needed. Rather than deal with the situation, we think that we can ignore it. What we fail to remember is that problems don’t resolve themselves and that ignoring the situation only makes matters worse. I have never observed a problem that resolved itself or just disappeared.

The benefits of allowing the Word of God to do surgery in our lives (the Word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” – Hebrews 4:12), is that, although there will be pain involved as with any surgery, we can finally face the removal of the cancerous sin that is destroying us and experience the true inner healing that we desire. God’s Word is a powerful force in our lives, if we allow its intense scrutiny and power to work in us.

Are you just glancing at the Word of God to receive little bits of encouragement?

Or are you experiencing an intense gaze that is revealing all that God wants and needs to do in you to make you like His Son?