If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:25 NLT).While you’re waiting on God to fulfill a dream or answer a prayer, he wants you to focus on what he’s told you in his Word.

The Bible is God’s Word to you. Did you know that it contains thousands and thousands of promises? Can you name one of them? If you can’t, then how in the world can you claim the promise? If you have an insurance policy but you don’t know what it covers, then you won’t know what you can claim if you have an accident.

God’s Word is the policy on your life, and if you don’t ever read it, you don’t know what God has promised to do in your life. When you don’t know what God has offered to do if you’ll trust him, it’s inevitable that you’ll be stressed out and worried.

The Bible says in James 1:25, “If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (NLT).

Do you want to be stressed, or do you want to be blessed?

The key to being blessed is to read, study, and remember God’s Word, and then you do what it says. The more you obey, the more you will be blessed.

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3 TLB).

Talk It Over

• What would you like to change about your Bible study habits?
• What could you adjust in your life—your priorities, your schedule, your attitude—to make more time for reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word?
• Do you find it difficult to obey God’s Word? Why or why not?