Gifted to Do

Do you know? You are gifted to do God’s word. In Luke 11:28 Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.” A more accurate translation would be, “and observe or practice it.” The root of the original Greek word implies “to guard or hide somewhere safe.”

Therefore, there must be more to being “doers of the Word” than merely “keeping it.” It must be 'guarded, cherished and hidden somewhere safe' – it should first be hidden in the heart! Until you make God's purpose your very own, Bible study is mere theory. It remains a pleasing exercise of the mind and imagination. Until you respond to God’s command to… “Do all that I speak,” your Bible studying is worth little or nothing. You should always approach God's words with the same objective that He has for them - that they be done (practised or performed). In fact, you have been gifted to do His word!

God's Word is food, it is bread from heaven, and the first need for enjoying food is hunger (a healthy appetite). Therefore, your Bible study should be driven by a great hunger after righteousness – a sincere desire to do God's will in all things. ”Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it (practice it).” The Greek Word used here translated “blessed” literally means “supremely fortunate, happy and well-off.” You become supremely fortunate, happy and prosperous when you 'do the Word'.

In John 7:17 Jesus says, “If any man wills to do God's will, he shall `know'…” According to this saying, all spiritual knowledge and discernment is dependent upon the 'will to do God’s will'. God promises to unlock the real meaning of His Word to those whose will is positively set upon doing it.

Note words usually stand between the intention and the deed (or action). If a person intends to do something for you; before he does it he would probably express his thought or purpose in words. Then, he fulfils his words by doing or practising what he has promised. This is the same with God. God would never ask us to do something that He is not prepared to do Himself. His Words have their precious value in what He does (how He performs them). God is a doer of His Word!

This is no less true of things that He intends us to do. If we don't do them; if we seek to know them only; if we admire their beauty and praise their wisdom, but do not do them, we deceive ourselves. God's Word is meant to be done. It is only as we put it to practice in our daily lives that its real meaning and blessing can be revealed to all. Please turn with me to James 1 - let's read verses 22-25.

What a terrible delusion it is to be content with, and to delight in hearing the Word, yet are not willing to do it. So complete is this delusion that believers never actually realise that they are not living good Christian lives. So why are so many being deceived in this way? I have found three reasons:

(1) Believers mistake the pleasure they obtain from hearing the Word for Christianity and true worship. The human mind will delight in having the truth presented clearly, and the imagination stirred up and gratified by its vivid illustrations. Even the feelings and emotions are sometimes aroused by the presence of the Living Word. Yet these things will not profit us! To an active mind with knowledge gives pleasure – but this is all head knowledge. Many study the Bible for the enjoyment that they get from the intellectual knowledge it gives them – without the least intention of ever applying it practically to their lives. Don’t just enjoy the word – do it!

(2) Another cause of this delusion is the distorted doctrine concerned with a perceived inability to do good. How many of you have been encouraged to believe that God does not require or expect complete obedience from you because He knows you cannot render it? This approach weakens the power of God that is continually at work in us – His blessed Holy Spirit. It is by grace that we are able to obey, because God has given us a means by which to put to death the sinful nature.

God has given us His life and nature in our spirit man. This spiritual truth is so misunderstood that many believers seem to think that it is necessary for them to sin because they have not been equipped with the ability to be holy. Yet didn't God say, “Be holy as I am holy?” God is not in the business of teasing or mocking you; He has gifted you to do, and by doing, to overcome! Nothing is impossible with God – especially not holiness.

To believe otherwise is absurd! Such a doctrinal error cuts away at the root of the very purpose behind everything God has said. It closes the heart of man to any earnest desire by which to believe and experience all that God's grace can do in us. It can keep us self-contented in the midst of sin and all its consequences. Which is very dangerous! Hearing and not doing – what a truly terrible self-delusion this is.

(3) There is a third reason for hearing and not doing. It is when reading or studying is regarded as a duty, the performance of which is considered to be a religious service. In other words – a personal sacrifice but God said obedience is greater than sacrifice. Such a religious duty, faithfully performed, may ease the conscious and give you some sense of satisfaction; however, you can hardly comprehend the hardening influence of this practice. Your heart will eventually become hardened and grow cold. Unless you approach God's Word with your heart set upon doing what it says, you bring upon yourself this terrible deception. So please remember, you must be “a doer of the word and not a hearer only, deluding your own self.”

Jesus said, “If any man wills to do the Father's will, he will be able to know and discern the truth of the Word - whether it be from God.” It is only when our hearts delight in God's law and we have set our wills, determined on doing it, that we can receive divine illumination. Without the sincere will to be doers of the word and not hearers only, our knowledge cannot profit us, for it is merely head knowledge. There is no Spirit!

The only sure way to know God and taste His blessed-ness is to do His will – God’s will and His word are one and the same. Doing the will of God quickly locates your level of faith, and it will soon determine whether Jesus is really Lord of your life. There is no better way of being united with the Father but by being united to His will in the doing of it.

God is not asking the impossible of you. He knows you are able because you have been gifted to do His will. Consequently, you are assured of receiving the strength and courage to say, in absolute faith, “I can DO all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me” – Philippians 4:13.

This confession is made by a doer – not a hearer!

Chris Demetriou, 07/10/2007