"Everyone that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand; And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:26-27)
The Apostle James gives us another likeness of the one who hears the Word and does it not: "If any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was." (James 1:23-24)
This lets us into the secret of why one is a hearer and not a doer. This man beholds himself, and goes his way and straightway forgets. Now read further, and see how to do it properly: "But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, ... this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:25)
Whoever steadfastly continues to look and to hear, will be a doer; for the Lord says, "Hear, and your soul shall live." (Isaiah 55:3)
And "live" means activity. There's life in looking into the law of liberty. The Word of God is living and active; for it is nothing other than the life of God, as manifested in Christ. He is the Rock, the sure foundation, "In whom all the building fitly framed together, grows unto a holy temple in the Lord." (Ephesians 2:21)
It is the Word itself that builds us up. "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." (Acts 20:32)
So then, if we but meditate in that Word day and night, we shall not be mere idle hearers, but shall do and prosper. "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper." (Psalm 1:1-3)
God's Word works. Jesus said: "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwells in me, He does the works." (John 14:10)
In all the miracles of Jesus, as well as in the creation, we see how the Word works. Therefore, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom," (Colossians 3:16) and the works of the Word will surely manifest themselves. "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)--Present Truth, April 14, 1897--Original title: Front Page--Timeline: IV-15 (Sermon on the Mount)--Matthew 7:26-27.