Romans
2:13 For
it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is
those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
Remember when the education
technique called “sleep-teaching” was popular? The idea was that by listening
to records or tapes while you slept, you could learn great amounts of
information and your life would be improved. Some people tried listening to
records of foreign languages, expecting to speak fluent Spanish in the morning.
Other people listened to diet records, expecting to wake up slimmer, or at
least with a hatred for all things chocolate.
This technique did not work
very well for a number of reasons. One reason it failed was that people did not
learn unless they practiced what they heard. Many people like me have listened
to baseball games on the radio for years, but still can’t hit the ball past the
infield. On Saturdays I watch the fishing shows on TV and still can’t catch a
fish larger than my bait!
Some Jews felt tht they were
righteous before God because thay had heard the law of God read or discussed.
Hearing the Word of God does not make us Holy. Even Satan has heard all of the
scriptures and can even quote them to Jesus. He is not justified before God by
his hearing of Scripture. The reason is that he refuses to do what the law of
God commands.
We are never going to be
disciples of Christ just by listening to sermons, reading the Bible or spending
time each day in this devotional. We must act on what we hear and read. Our lives
must reflect the teachings we have learned and appropriated into our daily
activities. We do not become disciples by sitting in church. Disciples take
what they receive from reading the Word, listening to sermons and
fellowshipping in church and then practicing it in their normal daily lives.
