James 1: Listen, Receive and Practice the Word

Introduction

Annabelle Sharman was a primary school teacher for many years. She knows the moment well: a child is about to do something they know is forbidden, throw that toy, hit a sibling, say that word. Your eyes meet. "You can almost see the cogs turning in their mind: do I? Don't I?"

This struggle, she says, is one we recognize in ourselves too: a cutting reply, a destructive habit, a compromise. A member of the leadership team of the Cambridge campus and a pastor of the Leadership Academy at KingsGate Community Church, she continues the "Wholehearted" series on the letter of James.

In James 1, she sees a battle between two natures. To walk in wholehearted obedience, as Jesus did, she presents three choices we make every day when we face the Word of God. Each time, one option leads to life and the other to death.

Outline of the Message

1. Two Natures, Two Trajectories

On one side, a nature drawn away from God: "each person is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death" (James 1:14-15). "Welcome to church," the preacher quips.
On the other, the gift of a new life: of his own will, God "brought us forth by the word of truth" (James 1:18). A life of joy, shaped by his truth and turned toward what is good.
Receiving this new life does not make temptation disappear. "Every day, and even every moment, we are choosing the way of life we are going to practice": moving forward in the life God gives, or sliding back into patterns that lead to death.
Hebrews 4:15 reassures us: Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. "Temptation is not sin." Faced with it, he answered: "It is written" (Matthew 4:4).
We do not fight this battle alone. James gives us keys to use God's Word and find the path of life, freedom and joy.

2. First Choice: Listen to the Word or Drown It Out

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every man be swift to hear" (James 1:19). Annabelle Sharman first thought of listening to other people. The context shows that it is first about listening to the Word of God.
We live in a noisy world: the news, social media, the chaos of the world, or the chaos within. "What are we allowing to become the loudest voice we hear?"
For her, the loudest voice often arrives on waking, with the to-do list and yesterday's emotions. "Do I turn to the Bible or to the internet?"
It took her years to find a rhythm: sitting up in bed, a cup of tea, her Bible and a reading plan. The noise of the world grew fainter, and she felt more rooted and more stable.
One commentator challenges her all the same: "It is possible to be unfailingly regular in Bible reading, but to achieve no more than to have moved the bookmark forward." We can hear without really hearing.
The Greek word for "swift" means being ready. Her husband created a morning prayer that the couple often pray on their Sabbath. Its beginning is taken from the Lectio 365 app: "As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still, to breathe slowly, to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God."
The end of that prayer is one she now prays most days before opening the Bible: "Father, as I come to read your Word, I long to meet with you. Holy Spirit, draw near to me and fill me with your wisdom and revelation. Jesus, open the eyes of my heart, that I might see you, hear you and know you more today."

3. Second Choice: Receive the Word or Resist It

Newly married, she and her husband lived in a pretty cottage with an enormous garden. Their strategy for the weeds: ignore them for months, then pull them out in a panic one afternoon. They always came back.
They received a letter from the council after a neighbor complained. Later, on their allotment, it was the allotment committee that wrote to them. The lesson: "If you leave weeds unchecked, they don't stay small. They spread."
Our old nature produces weeds: unhealthy thoughts about ourselves, others or God, pride, bitterness, jealousy, selfish ambition, resentment. Everything that produces the fruit of the flesh rather than the fruit of the Spirit.
"Therefore, putting away all filthiness and wickedness" (James 1:21). "Don't manage the weeds. Don't excuse them. Don't even trim them. Get rid of them. Pull them out."
The way: keeping short accounts with God. The Lord's Prayer asks God to forgive us (Matthew 6:12). Every time a weed appears, name it before the Lord. "It's not grovelling. It's simply relational: I'm sorry, God."
Pulling out is not enough. The couple had left the space empty, and the weeds came back even stronger. James adds: "receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."
The Greek verb "dechomai" means to receive, to welcome. We make room for the Word and receive it with joy. The more good things we plant, the less room is left for weeds.
Why receive the Word "humbly," as the version she reads puts it? Because the Word sometimes brings a challenge: it raises the bar and sets a course for holiness. The old nature resists and makes excuses ("this weed isn't so bad"). The new nature responds with humility and says yes to God's loving challenge.

4. Third Choice: Put the Word into Practice or Not

"But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves" (James 1:22).
"The old nature is content with information. The new nature is concerned with transformation." The old nature mistakes hearing for obeying, and its life stays unchanged.
"The old nature admires truth. The new nature obeys it." Is there something God has told you that you have admired, that has inspired you, but that you have not yet done?
God has given us free will. Not acting on his Word pulls us away from the life of God and from the best he has for us. Obeying what he tells us is the path to life, joy, freedom and wholeness.

5. Wholehearted Obedience: Surrender

Back to the children: they can obey without doing so wholeheartedly, rolling their eyes and grumbling. We can do the same with God and obey begrudgingly.
She quotes Jon Tyson, a church leader, in his book The Burden Is Light: obedience can be filled with self-righteousness and ego, and reinforce a spirit of control. "We can even obey God in an attempt to manipulate him."
The trap is the "if-then" mentality: if I obey, God will do this for me. That is conditional obedience. What we are after is unconditional obedience, in other words, surrender.
According to Jon Tyson, surrender is based on trust, not duty. "Obedience can happen in a moment, but surrender is the posture of a life." Whatever the outcome, whatever the cost, even if I never see the fruit in my lifetime: "I trust you."
The song "Obey" by Tiffany Hudson, a worship leader in the States, sums up the message: "My will and yours, a tug-of-war. But I'll stay yielded, I will obey, not because I have to, but because I love you."

6. The Choice Is Ours

Will we let the old nature drown out the Word, resist it, ignore it, or obey it begrudgingly? Or will we live in line with the new nature?
The new nature listens attentively to the Word every day, keeps short accounts with God, pulls out weeds as soon as they appear, welcomes the Word with humility and puts it into practice with a surrendered heart. "This is the path that leads to life, and life in abundance."
Annabelle Sharman concludes with a prayer of surrender, for those opening their lives to God for the first time as well as for those who want to recommit: "God, I surrender my life to you again. I want to walk in wholehearted obedience and surrender every day of my life."

Key Takeaways

Two natures are at war within us: one drawn to the sin that leads to death, the other born of the word of truth.
Temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted and answered with the Word.
To be swift to hear is to come to the Bible ready and attentive, without letting other voices drown out God's.
We must pull out the weeds and plant the Word in their place, with humility.
The old nature admires truth, the new one obeys it, not out of duty but out of trust and love.

Personal Application

What is the loudest voice you hear on waking, and what could you change so that God's Word comes first?
When you read the Bible, do you really hear, or do you just move the bookmark forward?
Which weed have you let grow, and what do you want to name before the Lord today?
Is there something God has told you that you have admired without yet putting it into practice?
Does your obedience look like a deal with God, or like a trusting surrender?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "swift to hear" mean in James 1:19?

Annabelle Sharman first thought it was about listening to other people. The context shows that it is mainly about listening to the Word of God. The Greek word means being swift, ready. The question becomes: how attentive are you when you open the Bible, instead of letting other voices drown out God's?

Is being tempted already sinning?

No. The preacher relies on Hebrews 4:15: Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Temptation is not sin. Jesus answered temptation with the Word: "It is written."

What is the difference between obedience and surrender?

Quoting Jon Tyson, Annabelle Sharman explains that we can obey with a conditional logic: if I obey, God will do this for me. Surrender is based on trust, not duty. Obedience happens in a moment, surrender is the posture of a whole life.