2024-04-04
Jakobus 1:22 NLV
‘n Pastoor skryf: ‘Die Latynse woord vir ‘luister’ is waarvandaan ons die woord oudit kry. Wanneer jy ‘n klas oudit, neem jy baie informasie in, maar jy doen niks daarmee nie. Jy doen nie die huiswerk nie. Jy skryf nie die toetse nie. Jy kry ook nie enige krediet daarvoor nie. Dieselfde is van ons geestelike lewens waar. Jy kry nie krediet wanneer jy die Skrif oudit nie. Jy moet dit in die praktyk toepas. Ons tref in die Westerse wêreld ‘n onderskeid tussen weet en doen. Daar was egter nie so ‘n onderskeiding in die antieke Joodse denkwyse nie. Om te weet was om te doen en om te doen was om te weet. As jy dit nie doen nie, ken jy dit nie werklik nie. Kennis is nie genoeg nie. Die waarheid moet met jou optrede vertaal word.’
Jakobus skryf: ‘Julle moet mense word wat dóén wat die woord sê. Moet dit nie net aanhoor nie, dan bedrieg julle julleself… As jy altyd net die woord aanhoor en nooit doen wat dit sê nie, is dit so goed of jy kyk na jou gesig in die spieël sonder om iets aan jou voorkoms te doen. Jy bekyk jouself, gee pad, en vergeet wat jy gesien het. As jy jou egter verdiep in God se volmaakte wet – dié wet wat ‘n mens vrymaak – en jy dóén wat die wet sê en jy vergeet nie wat jy gehoor het nie, dan kan jy God se seën verwag op wat jy doen’ (verse 22-25 NLV).
God seën jou nie as gevolg van wat jy weet nie, maar oor dit wat jy doen met dit wat jy weet. Elke keer as jy dus ‘n vers teëkom wat vir jou sê om iets te doen, oefen dit daardie dag uit.
Sielskos: Jer 22-24; Mark 1:1-8; Ps 6; Spr 8:32-33
James 1:22 NIV
A pastor writes: “The Latin word for ‘listen’ is where we get our word audit. When you audit a class, you take in lots of information, but you don’t do anything with it. You don’t do the homework, or if you do, you don’t turn it in to get it graded. You don’t take the tests. And you don’t get any credit either. The same is true in our spiritual lives. You don’t get credit for auditing Scripture. You’ve got to put it into practice. Every word of Scripture must be translated via obedience. In the Western world, we make a distinction between knowing and doing. But there was no such distinction in ancient Jewish thought. Knowing was doing and doing was knowing. If you didn’t do it, you didn’t really know it. Knowledge isn’t enough. Truth must be translated with your life.”
James writes: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do” (vv. 22-25 NIV).
God doesn’t bless you because of what you know but because of what you do about what you know. So each time you come across a verse that tells you to do something, put it into practice that day.
Soul food: Jer 22-24; Mark 1:1-8; Ps 6; Prov 8:32-33
2024-04-03
Johannes 5:30 NLV
Jesus het slegs die dinge wat sy Vader in sy gedagtes geplaas het, gedoen. Hy wil hê dat jy op dieselfde manier moet lewe. Jy vra: ‘Is dit moontlik om so te lewe?’ Ja, dis nie net moontlik nie, maar dis noodsaaklik om sodoende God se wil vir jou lewe te vervul.
Die Bybel sê dat Maria die tyd geneem het om na Jesus te luister, maar haar suster Marta nie, omdat sy te besig was om te bedien (sien Lukas 10:40). Jy kan so besig raak om die Here te dien dat jy jou sensitiwiteit vir sy stem verloor en met minder belangrike dinge besig raak. Jy leer om van God te hoor, deur tyd te maak om van Hom te hoor! Jesus het vyftien keer in die Nuwe Testament gesê: ‘Elkeen wat kan hoor, moet luister.’
Wanneer jy ‘n nuwe skepping in Christus word, kry jy nuwe geestelike ore, maar jy moet leer hoe om hulle te gebruik. Dit moet inderdaad een van die hoogste prioriteite in jou lewe word. ‘n Nuutgebore baba het die vermoë om te kan hoor, maar verstaan nie wat sy of hy hoor nie; om te verstaan neem tyd, onderrig, aandag en intimiteit met sy of haar ouers. Toe Jesus die twee dissipels na sy opstanding op die pad na Emmaus ontmoet het, het hulle Hom nie herken nie. Hy het hulle egter liefgehad, dus: ‘…het Hy hulle verstand geopen om… te verstaan’ (Lukas 24:45 NLV).
Soos jy oor jou lewe terugkyk, herken jy die tye wat God saam met jou gestap en met jou gepraat het, maar jy het Hom nie verstaan nie. Dis egter nie ‘n probleem nie. God is geduldig en sal saam met jou werk en jou ontwikkel.
Sielskos: Jer 18-21; Matt 28:16-20; Ps 69:19-36; Spr 8:30-31
John 5:30 NLT
Jesus did only those things placed in His mind by His Father. And He wants you to learn to live that way too. You ask, “Is such a life possible?” Yes, it’s not only possible, it’s essential to fulfilling God’s will for your life.
The Bible says that Mary took time to listen to Jesus, but her sister Martha didn’t because she was too busy “serving” (See Luke 10:40). You can get so busy serving the Lord that you lose your sensitivity to His voice and end up preoccupied with secondary things. You learn to hear from God by making time to hear from Him! Fifteen times in the New Testament, Jesus said, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
When you became a new creation in Christ, you got new spiritual ears, but you must learn how to use them. Indeed, that must become one of the highest priorities in your life. A newborn child has the ability to hear but doesn’t understand what he or she is hearing; understanding takes time, it takes learning, it takes attention, it takes intimacy with his or her parents. When Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection, they didn’t recognize Him. But He loved them, so “he opened their minds so they could understand” (Luke 24:45 NIV).
As you look back over your life, you recognize times when God walked and talked with you but you didn’t understand what He was saying. No problem! God is patient, and He will work with you and develop you.
Soul food: Jer 18-21; Matt 28:16-20; Ps 69:19-36; Prov 8:30-31
2024-04-02
Romans 1:20 NIV
The New Testament Greek word translated as “disciple” means “learner.” By definition, a disciple is someone who never ceases to learn. He or she makes the most of the hundred billion brain cells God has loaned to them. They keep asking and seeking and knocking (See Mt 7:7).
Leonardo da Vinci carried a notebook wherever he went. Some have estimated that he left fourteen thousand pages of notes to painter Francesco Melzi in his will. Almost seven thousand pages still exist. Bill Gates bought eighteen pages for $30.8 million in 1994. The scribbles on da Vinci’s napkin varied from anatomy to botany to painting to philosophy. One thing that made him extraordinary is that he wrote most of them using a technique called mirror writing. He wrote in reverse so the words could be read solely when reflected in a mirror.
In the final days before his death on May 2, 1519, Leonardo apologized to God and to man “for leaving so much undone.” And he resolved to keep learning until the day he died. Even on his deathbed, Leonardo was observing and relating, in scientific detail, the nature and symptoms of his illness.
So, never stop learning, because it glorifies God when you do it for the right reasons. And the right reason is to know Him so that you can love Him even more. Live like you will die tomorrow – but keep learning like you will live forever. After all, as a redeemed child of God, you will.
Soul food: Jer 14-17; Matt 28:11-15; Ps 69:1-18; Prov 8:27-29
