Thought for October 4, 2023

•  1537: First publication of a complete English-language Bible. Matthew's Bible translated by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale
• 1582: Spain and Portugal adopt the Gregorian Calendar--skip 10 days so tomorrow will be October 15
• 1883: First official run of the Orient Express
• 1927: Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mt. Rushmore [finishes in 1941]
• 1957: Soviets launch Sputnik 1
• 2006: WikiLeaks launched by Julian Assange
• Born: Rutherford B. Hayes, Damon Runyon, Buster Keaton, Charlton Heston, Anne Rice, Susan Sarandon
• Died: Rembrandt, Frederic Bartholdi, Janis Joplin, Secretariat, Loretta Lynn

Thought:

Today I am looking at a passage we all know, James 1:21-25. Two related concepts here.

• Put aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness. This reminds me that confessing, repenting, changing requires affirmative action on my part. I have to lay aside, cast off, remove the old sins of self. They do not go away without effort, intentionality on my part. And I am struck by the fact that James emphasizes ALL. I want to get cleaner, not clean. I want to get purer, not pure. I want to be like ivory--99.44% pure, but not 100%. I want to compare myself to you and feel good, not compare myself to Jesus and see my filthy rags. 
• Receive the word with humility. Interesting. The word is there, I know it. I must receive and accept it for it to be effective in my life. And I receive it with humility--it is God's word, it is for my good, and without Him I am unworthy even to receive it. And I also must not stop with just putting aside evil, for if I do not replace it with the indwelling word, the evil will return. So I die to self and live for Him by receiving Him and His word.
• Now, I have put off evil and received the word, what evidence do I produce to show the truth of my confession? I become a doer of the word. Interesting--in John's Gospel it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. For a believer, the Word lives in our flesh and the world beholds His glory through us. How do we keep doing the word? Read verses 23-25. We constantly look at the Author and Perfecter of our faith--we look intently at the perfect law--Jesus lived the law perfectly so we conform to His words, His thoughts, His actions--we do what He did and become doers of the word. And we have the promise--a doer will be blessed in what he does. [1:25]

Want to be blessed today? Be a doer of the word, putting aside evil, receiving the indwelling Word. 

Blessings

Larry