Be a Poet of the Word

Reason #23,689 to love Bible college: WORDS.

You may have heard the verse "Be doers of the word and not hearers only." This is James 1:22, and the Amplified renders it as, "But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God's precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]." The Amplified study note goes on to explain that this means receiving the word with a teachable spirit, actively applying it to daily life, and that hearing without applying is self-deception. But here's something I didn't know until a class session a month ago and may never have thought to look up for myself: The little word "doers" is the Greek poietes, which Strong's says signifies a performer, a maker, or a poet. 

Be a poet of the word. Now that's an idea I can get behind. 

I'm sure we usually interpret "be doers of the word" as "follow Jesus' teachings." And fair enough, but not complete enough. What do performers, makers, and poets do? They write. Recite. Declaim. Present. Post. Craft. Create. Poets distill truth into a potent, compressed form that "gets in and gets out" in relatively few words. They aphorize. They write the word on the doorposts, the gates, and the hearts. 

So let's do the word in the sense of service and obedience, of course. But when we perform the word, let's remember the dual meaning as well. We can act and present the word. We can stitch it on our samplers, write it on our blogs, speak it, preach it, paint it, calligraphy it, sing it, and explain it in our own words. All of these expressions are encompassed in being doers of the word.