What she is doing ...

“Daddy, what she is doing?” The words caught my attention as the little girl queried her father for an explanation. She was observing me. What was I doing, anyway? I wondered why her father did not seize the moment and correct her words. She was just learning to form sentences. While her tiny voice was so precious and cute, her ability to communicate with the world around her could be hindered if she failed to learn good grammar, I pondered. I was listening for his instruction to be something like, “Honey, say, ‘What is she doing, not what she is doing?’”

I later learned that although her words were spoken in English, the French culture in which she grew influenced her word pattern. French word order is similar to English with Subject Verb and Object, except when a pronoun is used, in which the correct word order becomes Subject Object Verb. Thus, “what she is doing” seemed appropriate.

Well, so much for the quick language lesson. Let’s get back to the point, which is really about the doing. What is it that I was doing? I simply cannot recall but her words never left my memory: what she is doing? Clearly God is concerned with the things we choose to do. His Word tells us we will be judged according to our doing:

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:12 NIV

You know me by now; I began to think deeper, asking: ‘Well then, just what is it that we are supposed to be doing?’ Then I marvel at how gracious God is when He provides the answer:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says … the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continued to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it --- he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22, 25 NIV (emphasis added)

Do not merely listen to the word … Do what it says … Shall we go deeper? How will we know what it says unless we read it, or hear it, or are exposed to it in some way? Do we read God’s Word regularly so that we know what it says and can thus, do what it says? Do we regularly attend teachings at His house where He has called others to explain the Word to us? Do we listen on the radio or television, or CDs, or DVDs, or any other media form so that we continue to learn what He would have us do?

The little girl’s words were imprinted on my heart even though the moment was more than 20 years ago. A little tot was watching me, wondering about my actions. Her father never addressed the word order with which she spoke, yet my doing in that moment became paramount.

So … What are you doing? What will you do today, tomorrow, in the days to come? Will you be found as a hearer and doer of the Word? Will you discipline yourself to read and study it so when your doing is observed there is no question if it is in line with God’s Word?

Well, I’ve got some studying to do. I must read the Word so it will be fresh on my mind and in my heart. I want to be found doing the Word and continually learning more of it. I hope you’ll join me … and share with me the exciting things you discover there … send me an email or leave a note on my blog: tanjadufrene@blogspot.com

Many Blessings,
Tanja Dufrene
Women’s Ministries
Highpointe Church OKC