from ignite...

“be doers of the word, and hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1v22)
It might sound a bit obvious, but there's a big difference between holding a cheque for a million quid in your hand, and paying a cheque for a million quid into your bank account. One looks good, the other makes you a millionaire. The truth is that we can be like that with God's Word. We can hear loads of amazing sermons, read inspirational books, go to awesome conferences etc…and it's all good stuff. But it doesn't mean ANYTHING unless it makes us spiritually rich and changes you from the inside out.
Am I the only one that struggles with 'been-a Christian-too-long-ness'?! You know, when you've been doing church and following Jesus for so long that you've nailed the whole 'looking the part' thing and everyone thinks that you're God's super-saint, but actually - what's going on inside is a totally different story! That's called deceiving ourselves.
The thing is that God fully knows what's really going on, but it doesn't stop Him loving us, and it doesn't change His commitment to helping us change. He's constantly speaking His love and His purposes to us through His Word. The challenge is to not just hear what He's saying, but to believe it and act on it. Sometimes, if we're struggling to get excited about what we hear, or think we've heard it all before, we just need to be honest with Him and ask Him to give us fresh ears and a willing heart.
Who knows, as we let God's word go past our ear-drums and into our heads, hearts, hands and feet - it might just transform our lives and our world.
Just a Thought!