I’m reminded of a statement that Dr. Lester Sumrall made: “I don’t do anything great – I just do something all the time!” He didn’t measure the success of his life by the periodic dramatic moments of his life, but rather, by just doing the right thing every day. Practicing the Word and making right choices every day were what added up to living a life of greatness. Every day, he was a doer of the Word! He walked by faith in God’s Word.
Luke 11:28 records that Jesus stated, “…BLESSED are they that HEAR the word of God, and KEEP IT.” It’s the one who does what he hears of God’s Word that will experience the blessing of God on his life.
William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army stated, “I’m not waiting for a move of God – I AM a move of God!” It was the way he lived his “everyday life” that enabled him to say this. Every day, he made choices toward his spiritual life. He was a doer of the Word every day. He lived in fellowship with God every day.
Smith Wigglesworth stated, “I live full of the Spirit. That’s why I have revival everywhere I go!” When we live full of the Word and the Spirit, it elevates the flow of our daily life, and out of that fullness we will be a great blessing to others. This was not just a periodic flow of Wigglesworth’s life, but a daily flow he chose.
These men were skillful at doing the Word in their daily lives. Greatness in the life of the believer is not built in the periodic dramatic moments, but in how we live our lives every day.
The faith life is about choosing to let the Word govern us. When faced with the circumstances of life, we ask ourselves, What does the Word say about this? We put the Word first – we act on the Word.
Joseph lived a remarkable life. During his teen years, he was a shepherd for his father, then his brothers sold him as a slave, and then he was falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison for 12 years. His years of youth and young manhood were lived in difficult, dark surroundings. The enemy, no doubt, sought to destroy him during this season, but because he conducted his daily life in a way that was pleasing to God, God was able to use those difficult times as an accelerated training course to prepare him to run a nation by the time he was 30 years old. He wasn’t trained in the palace. He was trained for greatness by doing the right thing in the everyday moments of his life as a shepherd boy, as a slave, and then as a prisoner. He had to guard his mind, doing the right thing with his thought life. He had to guard his heart to keep out unforgiveness, bitterness, and offense toward those who had mistreated and mishandled him. He learned to do the right thing every day.
“Doing the right thing – being a doer of the Word – this is what helps develop us spiritually and makes us of great use to God.”
Doing the right thing – being a doer of the Word – this is what helps develop us spiritually and makes us of great use to God.
In contrast, we see Sampson. He was a man who had an anointing upon him. God had promoted him to be a judge over His people. Sampson had dramatic spiritual happenings, but he was dominated by his flesh. What he permitted in his daily life became his weakness.
It matters what we permit in our everyday life. The flesh and natural things lose sway over us as we let the Word dominate us. Being a consistent doer of the Word brings blessing, for with consistency lies victory. Life becomes sweeter as our skill in doing the Word grows.
In an interview, I was asked, “What was your darkest day?” My most difficult time wasn’t a day – it was a season years ago, when I was spiritually young and my mind wasn’t renewed with the Word of God. Everything was hard then. Ignorance of the Word and not being a doer of the Word makes life hard, for the enemy seeks to take advantage of ignorance.
We don’t have to live in a place of ongoing difficulty. As we keep hearing and practicing the Word every day, it makes life sweet! “…BLESSED are they that HEAR the word of God, and KEEP IT” (Luke 11:28).