Thursday, October 04, 2018

 

A person can be a doctor, but that fact does not necessarily make them healthy, neither does being a wealth manager make someone wealthy. If a person goes to church each week and accumulates a lot of Biblical knowledge but fails to apply it, all they have accomplished is to deceive themselves. Sadly, the truth is that many people have deceived themselves into believing that knowledge alone is enough. However, no matter how much knowledge a person has, unless they are willing to apply said knowledge, all they have done is to deceive themselves.

 

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. – James 1:21-22 NKJ

 

All you have to do is to speak with people and you will see that they are constantly in a state of self-deception. Some think they are smarter than they actually are, others think they know how to coach better than the team coach, and there are those who feel they can run the country better than the President can. Others think they know how to build a church better than the Apostle. When you encounter people who one way or another have deceived themselves, one can easily identify them. The only time identifying a person who is in a state of self-deception becomes difficult, is when the person who has deceived themselves is you. It is easy to see self-deceit in others but it is difficult to see it in our own lives.

 

As we consider today’s Scripture, we can see that we pay a high price in our souls, when we deceive ourselves into believing that hearing the word of God is enough. In the First Century, people would listen to God’s word every day; they would study it and even memorize it; for many this was a spiritual experience. The same is true today, people show up to church to listen to God’s word and they consider it a spiritual experience. They hear the word of God, they are convicted, they repent, and they even to go to the altar to seek forgiveness from God. Then, they leave the church, go home and never apply God’s word to their lives. According to James, the only thing a person like this has accomplished is to deceive themselves. James tells us that there is no way, that just hearing the word of God without applying it is going to save our souls.

 

As I stated previously, it is always easy to identify self-deception in others and difficult to see it in our own lives. If after reading today’s devotional, you believe that the words James wrote do not apply to you, more than likely you have deceived yourself.