Four Questions
The Book of James is not one that sugar coats anything. James is more concerned with how we live than how we feel. He isn't shy in calling anyone out and expects that the fruit of a true believer would be evident in their day-to-day activities. This isn't to imply that our works save us nor does James contradict the teachings of Paul. If you want to discuss this, drop a comment below and I'd love to have the conversation. The point of this devotional isn't to debate theology, it's to help establish intentionality. Specifically, I'm going to share four questions the Lord laid on my heart to keep me focused on being a doer, as well as, a hearer.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
James 1:23-24 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/jas.1.23-24.ESV
It's real easy to have good intentions at the start of the day, the challenge is acting on them throughout the day. In the whirlwind that is our daily frenzy, good intentions fade quickly in the face of the seemingly important and temporarily urgent. We can even lull ourselves by thinking our check the box routines are enough. Of course we need daily time in the Word, time in prayer, and time each week at our local gathering. If we compartmentalize these things as tasks and don't live them out, we're missing the point and the purpose.
To avoid making Kingdom living yet another item on my 'to do' list that I just want to make 'to done', here are the questions I ask myself each week.
How have I advanced the Kingdom this week? This gets to the heart of evangelism. The how can take a variety of forms. The important thing is that I'm constantly situationally and spiritually aware to act upon Divine appointments.
When did I get knocked down this week and how did I get back up? First off, the question assumes that at some point during the week I fell short. Maybe my faith wavered, maybe I sinned and had to repent, maybe I ignored the prompting of the Spirit. No matter what it was, I know something about my week needs to be corrected. Once I get honest with myself, the remedy is repentance, rededication, and re-engaging. Getting knocked down is inevitable, getting back on track is essential. It's too easy to get comfortable with falling short and making excuses. This is a trap none of us can afford to fall into.
Who have I lifted up this week? We're called to disciple others and be in fellowship with our brothers. When we hear a brother is facing a trial, maybe we'll pray for him…once. We can do better! Not only do we pray but we make it a point to reach out, check in, and serve our brother. The enemy wants to isolate us and uses distractions to draw our attention away from the need. Intentional brotherhood requires action and presence. The harvest is ripe, the workers are few.
Who lifted me up this week? Discipleship and fellowship is a two way street. As we need to pour into others, we need others to pour into us just as much. There's a phrase that really spells this out, everybody needs to be a Paul and have a Paul. Putting on a mask in the face of challenging circumstances is another form of isolation. Selective exposure of our actions and thoughts is a cover up and likely a way to avoid dealing with sin. Pretending we don't have blind spots or don't need encouragement is pride. When we're down, we need to get real. When we're struggling we need to reach out. When someone is hesitant to reach out on an issue or feels like reaching out would be an imposition, I ask them what advice they'd give a friend walking through the same situation. Ten out of ten times the answer is they'd tell their friend to reach out. If the advice is good enough for a friend, it's good enough for us.
Kingdom work is our primary responsibility. When we go be before Jesus, He's not going to be impressed with how many videos we watched on YouTube or how many sales we made at work. Jesus is going to examine what we did with what He entrusted to us. Asking myself four questions each week keeps my focus on what really matters. I'm aware throughout the week that I'm going to give an account and so I don't drift from my mission. Sharing my answers with trusted brothers, and them sharing their answers with me, keeps me accountable and creates deeper bonds between them and me.