Is There Something in My Teeth?

Is There Something In My Teeth?
By Pastor Todd Crofford

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.
-James 1:22-25 NIV

Diane has this hilarious habit of asking me to check her teeth before we walk into a public event.  She will give me a big beautiful smile and say- all clear?  And almost always it is indeed all clear.  (She’s a rather skillful brusher and flosser!) Every now and then there is something there- and so I tell her.  She is always grateful for my honesty and goes to work to rectify the situation.  No way she is going to display that piece of Oregano to the world!

Now imagine if whenever she asked me, she paid no attention to the answer.  She’s not “all clear” but just pretends she is. We would need to question why she even bothers to ask?  In the same way, when we read the Bible, if we do not have an open heart to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us then we lose the value of reading.

The more we read our Bibles the more our Bibles read us.  Because the Bible is living and actively used by the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the choice to do more than just read it- we can be challenged and changed by it. According to James, if we want the full blessing of God’s Word we must put it into practice.  

So how about today?  Are you just going to read this, or take it to heart and live it?