Look Intently and Forget?

One morning, as I was preparing my coffee, getting the dog’s breakfast and putting a few dishes into the dishwasher, I checked my blood sugar. Multitasking this way, I did not pay attention to the result. I went from the kitchen to my corner of the couch and began to read. Soon I began to feel a little shaky as if my blood sugar was low. By now I had forgotten that I had even checked it. I went back to the monitor and was again preparing to prick my finger. Only then did I think that I had possibly done this already.
Looking at my pump, I verified that I had checked 45 minutes earlier and my blood sugar had been on the low end of normal. A small dip had led to the symptoms that I was now experiencing. How silly of me to let busyness distract me from the result.  I had gone through the motions but never really of checked my blood sugar level.
As I laughed at myself for this, (and treated the low) I thought of a Scripture in James.  ^“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”  (James 1:22-24 NIV)  I have done this as well. I may not intently examine my hair and face when in the restroom, but I do a quick check. I find myself walking back to my desk wondering what I actually saw. It must be okay. A major flaw, spot or spill would have caught my attention.
What have you looked at in the Word and thought “That is really good!” only to forget it by the next day?  Have you heard a good message but, by the time lunch was over, you do not even remember the topic? These occur more often than we would like. If we don’t put what we have heard to work in our life right away, we often lose what we have heard.  I could be asked that same evening, what a message was about.   My response would have to be, “I don’t remember, but it was really good!”
The key here is to do what the Word says.  These are some steps that I’ve found to help move the message from our ears to our hands and feet.
Plan before you start.  Before I even begin to read the Word or listen to a teaching.  I plan, on purpose, to receive something from God and put it into practice.  I want to have what Jesus called ‘hearing ears.’ “And He said, He who has ears to hear, let him be hearing [and let him consider, and comprehend].” (Mark 4:9 AMP)  So I ask for them.  I also commit beforehand to obey what I hear by the Spirit of God.   Setting my attitude in advance changes my perspective.  There is no room to evaluate God’s directions and choosing if I want to follow them.
In order to make this plan work, I have to apply what I hear to myself.  I cannot say, “I wish so and so could hear this.”  I am hearing this, and God has something in it for me.  I’ve already determined to obey, (step 1) so I will.  Also, to avoid hypocrisy in times when I do share with others, I must be really careful to have first applied the lessons in my own life.  “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?   How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”  (Luke 6:41-42 NLT)
Am I quick to do what I hear or see the Father doing.  Do I give someone a kind word as soon as it pops into my head? (Even if they weren’t nice to me, yesterday?)  Do I throw out my plan in order to help someone God puts in my path?  All of these require a decision to obey quickly. Even when now and here may not be the proper time and place to act, I can again be proactive. I can jot down a plan of at least the first step.  5 am may not be the appropriate time to call someone, but I am ready to do it quickly later when the time is right.  Leaving a service may be disruptive, but I can make a ‘note to self’ and obey that same day. 
I have to admit, that I often fall short, even with these steps in mind.  But God is gracious and another opportunity will arise for me to be a doer of the Word.  Paying attention to my monitor and grabbing a piece of fruit would have prevented the low blood sugar from occurring. Paying attention and to, and acting on God’s Word, will also prevent many future difficulties from occurring.  It will also bring many joys.
Avoid this vanishing memory syndrome.  Ask yourself these three questions daily.  Have I set a plan to hear from God and obey what I hear?  Do I apply the truth I hear to me, not everyone else I know?  Am I quick to do all that hear?  Then go out and live the life God has planned for you.