James 1:22 reads, “But be ye DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
On one occasion, as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a woman lifted her voice and called out. “And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee...But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and KEEP it” (Luke 11:27 & 28).
As Jesus was teaching and bringing revelations of eternal truths, this woman seemed to miss the whole point. She was thinking only in natural terms and cried out how blessed his mother was to have born such a son. But Jesus redirected her focus by saying that it’s those who keep His words, the DOER of His words, that are blessed. He was declaring that those who are doers of the Word are more blessed than the woman who gave birth to Him. Being a doer of the Word positions us so that the blessing of the Lord upon us can come into manifestation in our lives.
Noah
In the Word, we see that it was doers that God was able to work through in mighty ways.
Look at Noah. He spent 100 years building the ark. Think of all the physical labor that went into obeying that divine assignment – cutting down trees and turning them into lumber, then the construction of such a massive boat, while being mocked by the community all along the way as he warned them of what was coming. Noah and his whole family were saved because they were doers of what God said. It wouldn’t have been enough to hear what God said about the coming flood – they had to be doers of that word if they were to be saved.
Elisha
Let’s look at Elisha. God had told Elijah to go anoint Elisha to be a prophet. When Elijah found Elisha, he was out in the field plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. An ox is a massive animal of pure muscle, and Elisha was behind twelve yoke (pairs) of oxen – 24 oxen all yoked together being guided and handled by the strength of this one man. What a man! What a doer he was! God promoted this doer.
Shepherds
Let’s look at the birth of Jesus. When He was born, an angel appeared to shepherds who were watching their sheep during the night and announced Jesus’ birth to them, then a multitude of angels appeared to them in the sky praising and glorifying God. Next, the shepherds went to find Jesus, and after they did, they announced His birth to others. Notice that the announcement of Jesus’ birth came to working men – men who were doers – common men, not men of royal birth. Heaven considered these working, common men worthy messengers to proclaim Jesus’ birth. When Heaven had a work to be done, the angels found working men – men who were doers.
It’s not the half-hearted, but those who are whole-hearted in the work of the Lord that God can promote.
Those with great faith are great doers. They put their hand to doing the things that really matter. They are single-minded in their interest – fulfilling God’s will and plan for their lives.
We are never to wait for someone else to push us forward in our doing, but we are to do as Paul stated, “I PRESS toward the mark...” (Phil. 3:14).
We are to make it a focus of our lives to be doers of the Word. It’s doers that are promoted. Being a doer of the Word is how we bear much fruit, and the Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15:8).