As we continue seeking to build our lives on the Word of God, we begin to feel the gravity of our responsibility to respond appropriately to what we have learned.  Once we become aware of what He has said to us, we are faced with the next step called, “What then shall we do?”   We must bring our lives into balance with the plumb line that He has set for us.  We must respond in daily, moment-by-moment, personal obedience.

“This you know” in James 1:19 is a hinge phrase.  If it points backwards, all the way to verse one, we know to expect trials and receive them with joy.  We know where to find wisdom and so we go to the Source Himself. We know that both the rich as well as the poor will bloom and fade, for life is fleeting.  We know the Crown of Life is promised to those who persevere through trials. We know where temptation comes from, and we are made aware of the tempter who delights in it.  We know that God is the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. 

But, if “This you know” points forward to the verses that follow, we are about to learn HOW to respond to what God is saying to us through the instruction of James, the brother of Jesus.  We are to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.  My granny used to read us that verse and then quip her amazing personal commentary of, “See, girls, that’s why God gave us two ears and one mouth so we would listen twice as much as we yak!”  It is God’s place to straighten up folks.  That’s not our place at all.  Our anger is just itty-bitty smoke.  God is a consuming fire.  Leave the fixing and repair of others to Him. 

In verse 21, James provides us with the knob on the door to obedience.  The obedience door opens when we put away all filthiness and remove all vestiges of wickedness from our lives.  We have to clean up the workspace of our lives so God can form us into something useful.  He does that by “implanting” the Word into us.  He needs to see the rich potting soil of our new decision to pursue humility. We are to gladly receive the seed of this Word in our lives.  We are to embrace the Word and allow it to settle in and grow and produce fruit after being nurtured and watered and carefully guarded.

How badly do we desire the growth and fruitfulness of the Word in our lives?  Jesus died for this!  What does this Word accomplish in our lives if we obey it?  Receiving and obeying this Word provides salvation for our souls.  Lord, make me rich dirt, stick me in a strong, wide pot and plant your Word in me! 

I remember watching Romper Room as a child in the late 50’s.  Mister Do-Bee would fly around and remind us of the proper do’s and do nots of childhood.  I always think of that Mister Do-Bee when I read James 1:22-25.  We are to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer of the Word.  When we hear without obedience, we are deceiving ourselves.  Worst of all, we are acting and living in ways that confuse others and lead them away from the Author of the Word. 

The Hebrew word for “hear” in the Old Testament included not just taking in the audio by listening but taking in the command with the intention of obeying and acting on what you heard. That word is “shemah.”  Jesus put it this way in the New Testament: “Let the one that has ears LISTEN (akouw).”  Both carried the same weight.  It means to take what you have heard with your ear into the mind and process and then act in accordance with what you have heard. God don’t play. Jesus didn’t either. Obedience is required.

Finally, James closes this chapter with a triad of truth.  We are to put a strong bridle on our tongues, visit orphans and widows in their distress and keep ourselves unstained by the world.