Blessed rather are those who hear ...

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As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

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In the epistle named for him, the apostle James speaks of being a doer of the word and not a hearer only. He says that we deceive ourselves if we think that faith is a mere intellectual ascension to facts. He reminds us that faith that does not produce commensurate actions (or works) is a dead faith and not really faith at all. It is a great reminder for those of us who have a theological bent. The study of scripture is meaningless unless we allow it to change us.

My heart soars when Jesus speaks of the blessing that is attached to hearing and keeping of the word of God. We are blessed when we obey the commandments by keeping the spirit of the bible. There is a way to keep the teachings of the bible in an intellectual way and miss the blessings contained in it. For what good is it if we embrace the bible with our heads but keep our hearts far away. How can we experience the blessing if our hearts are not fully engaged?

I need to understand with more than just my head. Help me to embrace the blessing with my heart.

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