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 James 1:22-25 Title: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall"

Introduction:
Story from UPI news that termites destroyed a storage center full of brochures on how to get rid of termites.

Hearing is not enough. We must also do!
Hearing doesn't bring blessing - Doing does!
Many Christians mark their Bible, but the Bible never marks them.
Let's look into the mirror, the Word of God.
There are two reasons for using the Word of God as a mirror.

1. Examination
The main purpose for having a mirror is to make ourselves as clean and neat as possible.
The Greek word used here indicates a careful observation or attentive scrutiny.
But many times when we look into the mirror we make mistakes.

Mistake #1 - We face what we see fleetingly 
We merely glance and don't carefully study.
We would feel guilty if we missed daily Bible reading, but we read it carelessly.
It is like the difference between a Polaroid picture and a CAT scan.

Mistake #2 - We forget what we see.
In the Old Testament, we see the saints respond to the Scriptures.
Isaiah 6:5 Job 42:6
It can become like the old cliché, "Out of sight, out of mind."
The purpose of reading and listening to the truth is to respond.

Mistake #3 - We fail to follow through
We don't do what God's Word tells us to do!
We make a wrong assumption.
We assume that hearing is synonymous to do.
We may substitute reading for doing.
We may substitute talking for doing.
We may substitute thinking for doing.
I have a saying that states, "When all is said and done, more is said than done."

We must do something with that image we see in the mirror.

2. Evaluation
We need to look attentively
Let me suggest three ways to incorporate this in our lives.
1. We must look insightfully
Psalm 40:8
Psalm 119:32
We are free to obey the law and to know the blessing that comes from
obedience.
2. We must look intently
It is best described as a penetrating absorption.
John 20:3-7. Here Peter gets to the tomb last, but is the first one to
examine the inside. He looked carefully to examine everything. He left
nothing unexamined.
3. We must look instructively
We must continue doing.
Quote: George Duncan - "God does not reveal the deep things of the Spirit to the casual Christian who drops in for a chat."
We should be drawn to do something about it.
In their book, Happiness is a Choice, Minirth and Meyer point out that much of what we see as limitations are actually excuses for not changing.
Examples: What we are really saying...
I just can't get alone with my wife. I just won't get along with my wife.
My husband and I can't communicate. My husband and I won't communicate.
I can't find time to pray. I won't find time to pray.
I can't quit gossiping. I won't quit gossiping.

The words, "I can't" actually communicate a lame so that we do not have
to confront the truth. The result is that we deceive ourselves and do not face reality.

Don't let another day slip by without taking action on that issue about which you know God has been prompting you.
Our scripture points out that "in his deed the man is blessed." This is the whole thrust of the phrase. The man is not said to be blessed automatically in proportion to the amount o Biblical knowledge he accumulates.
The blessing comes with his obedience to the revealed will of God.
The focus is on keeping or obeying the Word of God.
Bible knowledge is not complete until it is applied to the life.
Someone has said the most important letters in the word doctrine are DO.