The emotional person can have a moving, even ecstatic experience of worship and still fail to make any of the difficult choices demanded by the sermon just heard! Too often, we can become quite good at keeping our religious practices at a safe distance from our hearts! St James describes such people as hearers of the word only ~ not doers of it.

We remain unaffected and ineffective, unchanged by what we do because we are like a gravely ill person, in need of quadruple bypass surgery, who opts instead for a full body massage ~ refusing to address the real issue. Jesus says the problem is the heart: "From within people, from their heats come evil thoughts, un-chastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, deceit… All these evils come from within and they defile" (Mark 7:22-23).

It is not difficult today to find a church that will massage your emotions, agree with your opinions, and assure you that you are "Ok" just the way you are. If this is all you want, the field is wide open. If on the other hand you want the "Blessed Life" of faith and discipleship, a life poured out in joyful service of others, one no longer defined by "that which defiles" ~ then "humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your soul" (James 1:21). Embrace this blessed life and live it ~ with all your heart!