James 1:22-24
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word and does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James doesn’t mess around in these verses–he tells us to “follow directions,” and he means business!

Now, as a fairly rebellious kid, always wanting to know WHY a rule existed rather than just following it, this passage gets to me. And I think a lot of modern Christians and people who might be curious about Christianity wonder about the Bible in the same way. Why do we, as Christians, follow the rules and codes listed–and why should we?

To be truthful, some of the Old Testament rules, like the rules about what to eat and how to prepare sacrifices to God, are not really part of our modern Christian livee anymore. We don’t, for example, consider pigs “unclean” meat anymore (if we did, barbecue places in the South would go out of business very quickly!). Thus, many nonbelievers might wonder: “Well, if you’re not following some of it, why bother following any of it?”

The answer to that lies in the New Testament. Jesus elaborates on the “new” (but really old) rules with His disciples and everyone else He speaks to. No longer does God seem concerned with the ritualistic practices of food consumption, dress, living spaces, construction of the Ark of the Covenant, etc. Now, God is concerned with the more spiritual, life-lesson rules–how to treat others, how to conduct your life in a Christian fashion, how to be faithful, how to forgive, and so on.

These, I believe, are the parts of the “word” James refers to in this blunt-force passage. We may not be following Leviticus to the letter, but we do have a responsibility to live as Jesus taught (which is just like God taught in the Old Testament). When we forget to live as Christians (and I’m just as guilty of this), we are like the guy who looks in the mirror and walks away, forgetting our identity as Christians for that moment.

We can’t just listen to Jesus’ teachings about life and think, “Oh, that’s a nice way to live,” and not do it. We must ACT as Christ told us, as indeed God told us. When we are faithful, forgive and help others, do things for God’s glory rather than our own, we are following directions. Gratitude for our salvation is but one reason why.