Todd Bailey Ministries

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Spectator or Participator?

Todd Bailey

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Centuries ago, William Shakespeare wrote numerous plays. One of the most memorable lines he penned was from the third act of his famous play, Hamlet:

"To be, or not to be: That is the question."

James the brother of Jesus wrote a similar thought provoking statement:

James 1:22: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

Even the day in which we live, another unforgettable phrase has been introduced to us by the Nike Corporation:

"Just do it."

When you and I do something we are participators. When we watch someone else do something, we are spectators. 

Webster's dictionary defines a spectator as "a person who looks on or watches, onlookers, observers." The word participation is "the fact of taking part, as in some action or attempt."

If you or I decide "to be", then we need "to do" something. That something in this case is the Word of God. What I mean by doing God's Word is this: When we read in our Bible where God tells us what to do in a particular situation or area of our lives, we need to act upon His Word and incorporate it into our everyday lives.

The only way we can become a doer (participator) consistently is when we continue to know and not forget or let slip (Heb. 2:1, Amp.) what God wants us to do. Many Christians today think the truth (God's Word - John 17:17) will set them free. To some degree that is true, but actually, it's when we know the truth that we are set free. The only way we can know the truth is when we continue in it (John 8:31,32). Therefore, to be a doer, you and I need to also continue in God's Word, remembering what we are to do and become a participant of God's Promises. 

In James 1, we can see how important it is not to forget what it is we are supposed to do. Verses 23-25 read:

23 For 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: 
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man we was. 
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

In verse 25, the word "deed" in the Greek means "action, performance (of the law)", and the word "blessed" means "supremely blessed, fortunate, well-off."

Instead of trying to do everything in this life just "to be" somebody, just find out what God wants you to be and "JUST DO IT." You'll be tremendously blessed when you become a participator.