"Looks Intently"

Scripture: James 1:25
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it- not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it- they will be blessed in what they do.

Observation:
This one verse is so jam packed with truths but I want to start at the very beginning with the words "looks intently" today.  Weird question… Do you know what a tadpole looks like?  Yes?  Well do you imagine in your head a real tadpole or the drawing of one that you studied when you learned about life cycles?  Probably most people see the drawing.  But my little sister, Katie?  I guarantee she sees the real thing.
When we were little, we stayed in a motel in Costa Rica where there were live tadpoles in the swimming pool.  And my sister "looked intently" at them for hours!  The Hebrew translation of that phrase is literally "to stoop down to look." The image of those tadpoles is seared into her brain.
However, the image I have of that memory is watching my sister from a distance.  I can picture her little brown ponytail with goggles wrapped around it, bobbing up and down on the stairs, as she corralled and studied the tadpoles.  But I didn't stoop down to look.

Application:
When it comes to God's Word, do you "stoop down to look" or do you gaze from a distance?  Consider how my memory was affected by my proximity to the tadpoles.  What is your proximity to the Word?  It's not impacting in the same way if you're simply observing as someone else interacts with it.

Prayer:
Lord, you are awesome!  Thank you so much for preserving your truths in your Word.  Help me to "look intently" at your Word, to "stoop down to look" at it.  I want to see your truths for myself.  Reveal them to me, Lord.  And help me to share those truths with other people.  In Jesus' name!  Amen!

I'm going to stick with this same verse for a few more days because I feel like there is a lot more to pull out of it.  Stick around as I "look intently" at:
Part 1: Looks Intently
Part 2: The Perfect Law that Gives Freedom
Part 3: But Doing It
Part 4: They Will Be Blessed

For anyone who hasn't been following my GroupMe for the past few months, I use the SOAP Method of Bible study a lot of the time.  I also think it is helpful to use brightly colored pens in my journal to mark up notes like you see above.  If you have questions about how to structure a quiet time, please feel free to ask.  This is by no means the only way.  It's just one that has worked well for me.

Confident in this…
Miranda