But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
The Greek word for “looks intently” is parakyptō. Strong’s Concordance says that the word suggests a person is stooping or bending over to look into something. I was trying to think of an analogy for this kind of looking and I finally found one. Have you ever found yourself gazing into the refrigerator looking for something to eat?
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
The human mind contains an incredible array of built-in abilities. One of those abilities is being able to recognize faces.
Faces are especially interesting. A person’s eyes are incredibly unique and able to convey hundreds (maybe thousands!) of expressions. The rest of our face frames the eyes and adds more information to our expressions.
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Proverbs 2: 6-8
Does anybody want wisdom anymore? Is that even a “thing” these days? How about knowledge? What is that, anyway? People seem to claim different things as being true. They want me and you to accept what they claim is knowledge regardless of whether it makes any sense or not. Which brings us to “understanding.” Whose do we use, anyway?
The problem in a society where everyone wins and no one loses is expectations. When people who never lose grow up they continue to expect to be treated as a winner, even if their ideas are losers.
For example, let’s take two neighbors; Harry and Larry. Harry is a humble man, attentive to the Lord, and always looking for the “right” thing to do. Larry, who lives next door, is generally full of himself. As far as he is concerned, he is always “right” and doesn’t need to bother with learning from anyone else.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Did I mention that James is … er… somewhat blunt? I did? Good. ‘Cause he is.
James packs a lot of truth into his brief staccato sentences so we might need to unpack some of this. Not that it is complicated or anything. It is just that what he is talking about is something we might be doing at this very moment.
Are you being “quick to listen” or are you “merely listen[ing]?”
… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Confidence
In the opening lines of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he shares an eternal truth: God is not a quitter.
Think about the persistence of God. Before he created the earth and the stars he created the angels. One of them went bad. Then this bad egg, Satan, enticed many of God’s angels to follow him.
When God created the universe and all that is in it, he understood the risk. He had already seen corruption in his creation of the angels. When he created the earth and all that we know, he was not surprised when Satan corrupted his creation again.
Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Picture Perfect
Imagine if you will a placid beautiful lake. The lake is surrounded by rolling hills, fruit orchards, and lush fields. Animals play in the fields and birds fill the air. You and others are in boats of some kind; canoes, sailboats, paddle-boards, all enjoying the water and the sunshine.
At the far end of the lake stands a large figure. In our imaginary world, this is God, the Lord. He rules the land and the people on the lake. At his feet there is a cleft in the rock and the lake flows into a narrow ravine. The Lord guards the way and has commanded all the people to stay away from this place, to enjoy the lake and the surrounding hills, but to avoid the river.
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
I wonder if James has done this himself? Did he get rid of all the moral filth and evil in him? Did he humbly accept the word that was planted? What do you think? Do you think that running into his half brother, Jesus, after he had seen Jesus crucified might have had an impact on him? I do. I think he was shaken to his boots. (I know, they didn’t have boots in those days, but who says, “Shaken to his sandals?”)
Having been thus shaken, James vows to change. I think he did, too. I think he became the kind of person his brother, Jesus, is proud of. I think he took inventory of his attitudes and feelings and decided he needed to do a little house cleaning. James thinks you and I should do the same.
…because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
I find it interesting that James says we should be “slow to become angry” instead of telling us not to get angry. Why? Is James saying it is okay to be angry if it is the slow kind? In today’s verse, James sheds a bit more light on what he meant by “angry.”
James distinguishes “human anger” and “slow anger.” So what is the difference? What is it about human anger that James doesn’t like? This is a situation where it helps to look at the underlying Greek to better understand what was meant.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…
Once more we return to this amazing passage of scripture. It looks like a simple sentence on the surface, but as we dive into the text we find that every word is a gemstone in its own right. The value of these gems is magnified by the fact that they were written by the half brother of Jesus. A man who grew up knowing Jesus as his older brother and who did not believe in him or appreciate him until after Jesus rose from the dead and spoke with him.
Because of this life experience, James has special insight. He spent all his time living with the Son of God being slow to listen and quick to speak. Now he knows better. Besides, he knows one more thing: Be slow to become angry…
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2: 1-5
Solomon recognizes that even he, the most powerful man in all the earth in his day, can not force a person to accept his words. He tells his children, and by extension us, that if you accept his words there is a benefit. More than that, he expands on what it takes to acquire understanding.
