Receive It or Reject It

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)

Hearing the Word is essential, but James wrote that it’s not all you need to do. He instructed believers to receive the engrafted Word, a Word implanted deeply enough to take root and grow, rather than one that passes by on its way somewhere else. Receiving is a distinct step from hearing, and it requires a decision.

This is because you can hear something true and still choose not to accept it as true for you. You can give more weight to what your circumstances tell you, what you can see, feel, or measure, than to what the Word has said. When that happens, the circumstance becomes your functional truth, even while the Word remains technically true in the background, unreceived and inactive in your life.

James said the engrafted Word is able to save the soul, meaning the mind, will, and emotions. That is a significant claim. When you receive the Word correctly, it can stabilize a troubled mind, strengthen a wavering will, and steady overwhelmed emotions. But none of that happens automatically simply because the Word was heard. It happens specifically when the Word is received with meekness, a teachable posture willing to let Scripture outrank the circumstance.

Practical Application

Identify something you have heard clearly but have been giving more weight to your circumstances than to the Word. Choose today to receive the Word as the greater authority rather than reject it.

Matthew 13:23; Romans 12:2