Fine Print: Worship Wholeheartedly — Friday


James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (NIV)


As we wrap up our teaching series Fine Print, I want us to recap and zoom out to the 30,000-foot view. We have looked at three biblical phrases that have the potential to change your life:

  • Die Daily

  • Serve Sacrificially 

  • Worship Wholeheartedly

The temptation is to just agree with these teachings. 

To agree that they are good, right, and true. To add them to our proverbial shelf of more Bible knowledge. As Bob Goff says in his book Everybody Always, “I’ve found it easier to agree with Jesus than to do what He says.”

The challenge is to apply them. To actually change how you live your day-to-day life and how you interact with the people God has placed around you.

Jesus intentionally didn’t hide these phrases in the hard-to-read fine print where you would never find them. He placed them front and center. He said them clearly and plainly because He knows that they will bring the most life. They will bring the most joy. They will be the best way for you to live a life that counts. 

And the good news is that you don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference. As John Piper says, “The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing.” 

My advice to do this is to adopt James 1:22 as your life verse. Let it mark you and be evident in your life: “Do not merely listen to God’s word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” 

Don’t take in more biblical truth than you can apply. Simply work out what God is working into your life. Live out what you are learning. At the end of the day, a deep faith is not about learning more things; it's about applying the things we already know.


Friday’s Reflection

Reflect on this teaching series we’ve been in as a church and make the commitment to not just agree with biblical teaching, but to apply it. Resolve to do something different this weekend, and ask God to help you do it.


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Summer School: The Gospel — Monday

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Fine Print: Worship Wholeheartedly — Thursday