Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
April 21, 2023
James 1:19-27
19 Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. 20 This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you. 22 You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves. 23 Those who hear but don’t do the word are like those who look at their faces in a mirror. 24 They look at themselves, walk away, and immediately forget what they were like. 25 But there are those who study the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continue to do it. They don’t listen and then forget, but they put it into practice in their lives. They will be blessed in whatever they do. 26 If those who claim devotion to God don’t control what they say, they mislead themselves. Their devotion is worthless. 27 True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us.
Good Morning, Welcome the word planted deep inside us.
The Book of James speaks to me in many ways. Despite James’ writings being disdained by theologians as having too much emphasis on doing good works, James shares immense wisdom. I believe James focused on our response to our gift of salvation. He never meant that you do good works to earn salvation, but when we choose to accept the gift, our work of service has just begun.
I have a friend who is a great listener. She once told me that she didn’t know how to serve God because she was older and could no longer do much physical work. I shared with her that each of our callings is different. Those who are blessed with the gift of listening are very important. In this noisy world where it sometimes seems that the one who makes the most noise gets all of the attention, there is a considerable need for those who can listen and discern the needs of those struggling. Rarely do we shout our struggles for all to hear. We often keep them bottled up until they burst forth in uncontrollable ways. God instills this gift in those who quietly live among us. The voice of God comes to those who listen.
When I consider the gift of listening, I think of Simeon, who served God as one who listened. As he listened to those who came to pray in the temple, he heard words of praise, sorrow, frustration, and happiness. Sometimes he simply heard sighs and groans from those who could no longer utter words. Simeon faithfully listened, prayed, and served God. One day after years of listening, Joseph and Mary came and presented Jesus to him to receive the blessing of God. God opened Simeon’s eyes to see the Messiah.
Many of us could be better listeners. We become so self-indulged that we want to interrupt the one who is speaking. We want to talk and give advice when the one who is speaking simply needs to share. Blessed are those who purposely listen to the small voice of the one in need. God gave us two ears and one mouth! Hmmm! Take time to listen to someone today!
Blessed God, We thank you for Your blessings. For those of us who like to talk, help us learn to listen more. Thank You! In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: I will listen to others with patience and empathy today.
Open our ears, Lord! Pastor Liz
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