By Gregg Woodall
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (James 1:22-25, ESV)
We are all familiar with verse 22 as that is our theme for 2020. But have you considered the “rest of the story” found in verses 23-25?
There are many things we all do every day for ourselves giving little thought to it. We brush our teeth and floss (public service announcement for Gary), we wash our faces and put on deodorant (hopefully) and so on it goes. We see things that need adjusting and we attempt to correct it before we leave the house.
Some things we allow to go on for a while before we decide to deal with it. Getting a haircut is not something we do every day, only when we reach the point that someone points out our long unruly hair, or perhaps we notice it for ourselves. Only then do we seek to have it taken care of.
On April 17th, Sherrye had me cut all her hair off as it was falling out in clumps just prior to that due to the chemotherapy she was receiving. Today, November 17th, she is just now getting her hair back and cannot wait until she can brush it once again and eventually need to have it trimmed. We all take for granted things so simple as hair. However, I am not talking about physical hair in this article, I am referring to the hairy issues of life that get in our way and block our view of fully serving the Lord.
Do you need to trim the edges from a bad attitude?
Do you need to shorten your speech over your ears so you can be a better listener?
Do you need to cut out the long tirades of dissatisfaction with others and our plight in life?
Do you need to straighten out some things in your life?
As you lament the hairy issues we all face today, such as wearing face coverings, social distancing, worshipping with extra care for others, being in quarantine, political unrest, etc., just remember it is a privilege to be alive and have hair to deal with and with God’s help we can be presentable before Him.
Do you need a haircut?