The inspection of the mirror

"And remember it is a message to obey and not just to listen to. If you dont obey you are only fooling around. For if you just listen and dont obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like."
James 1:22-24

James like using little proverbs such as this one looking in the mirror but not doing anything to change your appearance. This couple of verses help us to unpack what the previous verse has said. It is also gives us a bit of a break by using an everyday experence to get the point accross.

Change has to happen and the questions we often ask:

What do I look like?
Having observed, how can I change to this or that?

Prayer: Lord we pray that you change us to reflect you more and more as we await your second coming.

Respond to what you hear

"So get rid of all the filfth and evil in your lives and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts. For it is strong enough to save your souls."

The previous verse has spoken about listening - listening to God! But is what is God saying? But we cannot come to his presence knowing that moral fiflth is so preevalent in our lives. This is what James is telling us. This means that a clean up has to take place. We need to get rid of all the filth.
Getting rid of the filth we need to humbly accept God's word. If we have heard and read God's how do we respond, do we respond by humbly accepting God's word?