“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22
“James 1:2,” he said. But it didn’t help. I had been frustrated, complaining about how badly things were going on a project. ‘The guy’ was TRYING to help. But his words only proved him to be a smart-ass. He’d memorized a Bible verse once, and hurled it at me. Since I don’t memorize chapters and verses, I replied “Huh?” He smirked!
Being a preacher, one of my pet-peeves is when someone wants to try to impress me with their Bible knowledge by throwing out a Bible verse. It’s easy. When I say “Huh?” I immediately see a gleam in their eye… even if it was unintentional. That gleam says, “see how smart I am?” It really says, ‘I’m a smart-ass!’
James 1:2 tells ALL of us to “Consider it all joy when you face various trials.” I know the verse. I also knew I wasn’t DOING the verse when ‘I’ was talking to ‘the guy.’ He had pointed out that I hadn’t been DOING it when I was doing my project. Which proved BOTH of us were being nothing more than dumb ‘smart-asses!’
A little further down the chapter is another ‘Good Verse’ to memorize. It’s James 1:22 (gotcha)! It says to “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” If I had been in a competition, I would have been able to finish that verse after hearing only “Be doers!” Cuz I’m a smart-ass! But then The Holy Spirit hits me, and I know I’m just being a dumb one!
I am a walking, talking oxymoronic saint! I KNOW what the Word says! I have DECADES of study and knowledge that COMPLETELY fails to impress Jesus. He doesn’t CARE what I KNOW. He only cares about what I DO! That He loves, cares for and wants ME to be HIS is the motivation to stop being a smart-ass and DO.
So…. what about YOU? Do you prove your love and appreciation of Jesus by reading His word daily? Are you DOING what He says? Are you working on dropping the ‘ass’ from the title and becoming smarter in your willingness to be His disciple? Don’t be a dumb-ass or a smart-ass… just be His ass! After all, He’s known for Joy riding them!
