James 1:23

'For if anyone is. hearer of the word and not. doer, he is like. man who looks at his natural face in. mirror;'

'if anyone' -This isn't. hypothetical situation. This really could and does happen among some professed Christians (Matthew 7:24). This can happen to "anyone". And there is never. time in your Christian life when you can say, 'I have reached. level of spirituality in which. don't have to be. "doer of the word." There isn't. level of spirituality that transcends our need to obey what God has said.

'he is like' -God is doing all He can to help us get the point and see how ridiculous. mere hearer of the word looks. We often try to rationalize our failure to obey, 'Well, in just coming to services,. am doing more than most', 'I am ahead of most people by just reading the Bible', 'Maybe if. listen long enough, obeying the word will just come naturally, or without much effort.' We also tend to blame the word, or who might be presenting the word-as why we can't seem to obey. 'If only the sermon was more exciting, if only the speaker was more entertaining.'

'a man who looks at his natural face in. mirror' -'his natural face'-is the face of his birth, i.e. his physical appearance. 'His face as it is by nature' (Macknight p. 351) 'looks'-The contrast here is not between. hasty glance in. mirror verses. more studied look. For the word rendered "looks" in this verse means to consider attentively, to look at with reflection, to consider or contemplate. 'So the contrast is not between. hasty look and. careful contemplation. It is not mere careless hearing of the word which James rebukes, but the neglect to carry into practice what is heard, one may be an attentive and critical hearer of the word, yet not. doer' (Vincent p. 734)

The world is filled with many 'students' of the bible, many 'biblical scholars' who fit into the above category. People who love to spend time in the Scriptures, but never seem to make the application to their personal lives. People to love the bible as literature, archaeology, history, poetry, philosophy, mental stimulation and so on, but they don't love it as. lifestyle.

'in. mirror' -the mirrors of this time period were often made of polished metal.