Every new car comes with an owner鈥檚 manual. It generally lives in the glove compartment, and the owner rarely, if ever, refers to it.
The Bible is not an owner鈥檚 manual. It鈥檚 a letter from God to his people, telling us who he is, who we are, and his plan for our salvation. That said, the letter of James is a very practical section of the Bible.
If you鈥檝e clicked on this Bible reading plan, you鈥檙e a person who wants to go deeper in your understanding of the Bible. But many of us are like the person James describes in this passage: the one who looks at himself or herself in the mirror and goes away, immediately forgetting what they look like. A piece of spinach between her teeth? A smudge of ink on his cheek? They see it and immediately forget it鈥檚 there.
Our instinct is to read our daily devotion and keep going, putting what we鈥檝e read into a compartment we only check when there is a need. James tells us to go against that instinct and, instead, live out what we鈥檝e read. The Bible tells us who we are: we make mistakes and yet God loves us so much he sent his son Jesus to die for our sake. It tells us of who God is: faithful, loving, and in control of all things.
How do we get it into our lives? One way is to read the Bible every day, which you鈥檙e already doing! Another is to memorize it. It takes time, and the older we get the harder it might be, but the reward is a life lived close to God because we know who he is, who we are, and his plan for our salvation.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for giving us the Bible so that we can know you better. Help me to internalize what I鈥檝e read so that I can live changed. Amen