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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Double-Souled
Believers James
1:22 reads: "Do
not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it
says." I was
raised in 1950's and 1960's Evangelical Christianity.
That makes me old. I
estimate that I have attended more than twelve thousand church meetings
in my life.
I've listened to countless sermons, most of their content escapes
my memory. Sometimes I, and
I'm sure you, have difficulty remembering yesterday's sermon. We
are human. Our memories do
fail us, and besides that, paying attention to a sermon can be a
struggle at times. On the
other hand, the routine of church makes it easy for us to hear the
sermon and then leave to go about our business, as James 1:22 addresses.
Part of
our difficulty in this matter is that we are double-minded, something
James 1:8 hints at. "Such
a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."
The
Greek word "dysychos" is translated here as
double-minded. This Greek word consists of two other Greek words,
meaning, twice and soul.
Double-minded or double-souled suggests being mentally and spiritually
conflicted, and that portrays today's culture where there are so many
voices vying for our attention that it makes it difficult to concentrate
on the one important voice. To
complicate matters, technology enables us to listen to as many voices we
want, all at the same time, and that inhibits our ability to maintain
good concentration skills. Whatever
happened to undivided attention?
Whether you call it
single-eyed or single-souled, it's how we must approach the Word of God
that James 1:22 addresses. God's
Word enters our minds where hopefully a
single-souled mindset will plant it into our hearts, where if
allowed, it will grow and become the conviction whereby we live.
It's what James 1:21 is all about. "Therefore,
get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly
accept the word planted in you, which can save you." Being single-souled
in relation to God's Word prevents us from being deceived into thinking
we are someone we are not, just as James 1:22 implies.
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