James 1:25

NIV: But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it— he will be blessed in what he does.

The Message: But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

I just love the way the Message puts this verse. It’s not just a case of reading the word of God, but of putting it into practice, and the ones who do this will be blessed. Isn't that awesome, to know that when we are doing the will of God, when we are listening to His voice and obeying Him, He will bless us in return!

Sometimes life gets in the way. You find there are bills to pay, work to do, perhaps even no work or no job, school/college is a struggle, you get ill, people around you, loved ones, are ill, sometimes seriously. Maybe you have marriage problems, maybe the problem is that you're not married and wish you were, or possible you are married and wish you weren't! Then there are just the everyday things that we have to face - the children playing up and arguing, worrying about what to do for the next meal, how to cope with all the jobs/tasks you have to do because no matter how hard you work at it, the list just seems to get longer and longer. And what about free time (what free time?), time to spend with your family and friends? How do you manage to get everything done that needs to be done and still find time to have some fun, some relaxation?

Then there is the possibility that what you are going through is a spiritual attack. It is easy to dismiss this and also, just as easy to assume that everything bad that happens is a spiritual attack so you have to use your common sense.

But whatever we may be going through, if we keep our eyes fixed on God, if we set our hearts on Him and him alone, and try, as best we can, to follow His word, to do His will, His bidding, no matter how much we may mess up, then we will be blessed in what we do. If we catch just a glimpse of the counsel of God, even if it is only out of the corner of our eye and stick with it, then God will bless us in return. To me, the translation in the Message is telling me that even if I only manage to get a vague idea of what God would have me do and I try and do whatever it is, whether or not I succeed, then God will bless me. But not only that, I will find delight and affirmation through obeying God!

So it is a case of reading our bibles, because how else are we to know the word of God, to find his counsel? If we never bother to open our bibles, but rely on the preacher on Sunday, the readings in church, to tell us about God, then how are we to get to know God ourselves? How are we to know what his will is for our lives? How will we spot a false prophet or teacher if we don't know our bibles well enough to be able to tell when someone is misleading us?

There is treasure in the bible, great words of wisdom, advise, encouragement, examples of men and women who did great things for God, as well as men and women who really messed up. It contains the history of the early church, prophecies regarding the end of the world, and tells us how the world was created.

We can learn so much from it, if only we open its pages and read what is printed there. But the devil will try and keep us away from this, by making our lives busy, placing other things in front of us that we allow to distract us , to take our eyes off God. Like when I sit here first thing in a morning and end up checking my emails, just finishing off that letter, sorting out my bank account, reading various blogs and just generally messing around. What I am doing seems important, necessary, but in actual fact, it stops me spending time with God, with the creator of the universe, the one who continues to bless me and be with me no matter how many times I ignore Him and go off and do other things.

So that has got to be one of my new year resolutions, to spend more time with God, more time reading, studying and obeying His word. And just imagine the benefits that will reap as I get to know personally the Lord God Almighty! Why don't you try it too?