Sabbath: Being and Doing
Read for This Week’s Study: James 1:23-24; Matt. 19:16-22; Luke 6:27-38; Rom. 8:2-4; Rom. 12:9-18; 2 Pet. 1:4.
Memory Text: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves
(James 1:22).
Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as The Great Blondin,
became famous for walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. In September of 1860, the Prince of Wales had witnessed Blondin’s crossing of the falls with an assistant on his back. After the walk, Blondin turned to the British prince and offered to carry him across the falls too. Although the prince had heard of the man’s skills, and had even just seen them in action, he was still not ready to place his life in Blondin’s hands.
The point is, of course, that hearing and seeing are not enough when it comes to a relationship with God. We may be intellectually convinced about the existence of God, the truth of the gospel, and the Second Coming. We may have even seen for ourselves the reality of God’s love and care. Yet, even with all that, we may not really be ready to commit ourselves fully into His hands, an action that would be revealed by our works. This is precisely why James emphasizes the importance of being doers, not just hearers, of the Word.
This week we’ll look at what being a doer of the Word means for those saved by grace.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 25.
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Indeed faith is a very vital element. Little do we know how much we need to be with God. This analogy shows through a glass darkly how close we should be to God if we have faith in Him. Infact we need to reflect His character till the world can see Him.
The only way to become doers of the Word is to have the Word implanted in our heart. For only out of a converted, good heart can come good thoughts and good actions.
Mat 12:34 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things;
Jas 1:21 ... receive in meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22 But become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Being does of the Word, is described in my most favourite quote from The Desire of Ages pg 668
Thank you, Shirley, for this quote. I think it is probably my most favorite statement from Ellen White because it produces the reality of the true Christian walk in words.
"The Great Blondin" story makes a good point - knowing intellectually does not equal committing oneself - illustrating part of the message of the memory verse. Yet in some ways, the illustration stands in contrast to the memory verse. To have ridden on Gravelet's back would have been to put oneself in mortal danger, while not to "be doers of the Word" is to even more certainly endanger one's eternal life. This contrast stands because Gravelet, though skilled, was still only human and could err or fail. God, on the other hand, will neither err nor fail as our Savior if we commit and obey. Nor, as our Judge, will he err or fail if we fail to commit and obey.
Surely faith is the only source of hope for any one who claims to be follower of Christ and whoever believes will do anything about everything in life through Christ who strengthens and leads them.
I was raised in an Adventist home. There’s so much good in that. The one downside for me, is knowing a lot about how I should act from scripture. The problem is there’s a temptation to ‘behave’ myself without transformation.
It seems so much easier to ‘portray’ Christianity around those who are considered impress-worthy. In the long run that’s the most difficult road.
I decided long ago, that no matter how things appeared, I would be 'real' and trust God. It’s not been easy. There've been many times I failed to believe that things would eventually turn out as God promised they would because of challenges authenticity seemed to cause.
One thing I do know is, this road is much easier than the alternative to just ‘perform’.
In this life we obey our parents as we see them lovingly providing for our needs,protecting us.We carry out instructions from our employer knowing the rewards and also the consequences of non performance.In both of the above cases we see and do.The Lord's Prayer in a nutshell should make us visualise how lovingly God provides for us, forgives us, wants to protect us from evil, has laid out eternity for us and in this life can give us the strength to do everything through him as we ask in faith.With an aching heart Jesus lovingly warns humanity about the consequences of non-performance.
We must be obedient to learn and know who God is. In Isaiah 58 we are told to call the Sabbath a delight. Before the Sabbath becomes a delight to us we start keeping Sabbath. It becomes a delight when we enter into a real and true experience with Christ understanding that God always has our best interests in mind. We begin to serve Him because we love Him because He first loved us. At this point Sabbathkeeping becomes a delight and obedience in all things is our highest form of worship.
This quarter's lesson is so helpful. Let us all ready it.
I like the illustration.Like the prince, i would not trust that tight rope walker to put me on his back and cross the niagara .Trust not in flesh whose breath is only in his nostrils.Riding on the back of Jesus i would gladly cross the mighty Victoria falls on the thinnest thread.With Jesus i can do ALL things.Riding on my big brother-Jesus' back i cannot only be a hearer of the word but a doer too.So ride on Jesus and cross over all your temptations,your problems,your disappointments and your challenges.Ride on Jesus and cross over from this corrupt world to paradise.