Finding Ourselves!

A few weeks ago I was SEARCHING the web and I found myself. It really caught my attention. What I was doing was a search to see how easily the “teEn-MAIL” could be found since it is now being posted on the Berryville Church of Christ website in Arkansas. To my surprise the daily “teEn-MAIL” was the first link which came up and there was my name right in front of me. I was glad to see (thanks to the efforts of Kevin Cauley) that this material could be so easily found. A few years ago when I set up a group Yahoo site for “teEn-MAIL”, unfortunately such a search brought up some links that were far from God glorifying.

There is a lot that can be found when SEARCHING the web. Perhaps there is a sense in which some have gone online in SEARCH of self; seeking that with which they feel they can identify. However, as I thought about the notion of SEARCHING the web and finding myself I began to think of time spent SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES.

As we SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, if we don’t find ourselves, what should that tells us? If we don’t identify with what God has revealed in His Word we must not be taking it to heart and allowing it to transform us into the beings God intended us to be. If we look into God’s mirror and cannot recognize ourselves, it is not the mirror that needs changing, but ourselves.

James exhorted…
“(22) But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (23) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. (24) For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (25) But THE ONE WHO LOOKS INTO THE PERFECT LAW, the law of liberty, AND PERSEVERES, being no hearer who forgets but A DOER WHO ACTS, HE WILL BE BLESSED IN HIS DOING.” ( James 1:22-25 ESV)

There is a sense in which we should view God’s Word as a mirror for the soul. As we turn the pages and SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES what is the reflection we see? Does our life reflect a likeness to what is written there?

I was first introduced to the following poem by one of my Bible class teachers when I was in grade school and have never forgotten the focus.

THE GUY IN THE GLASS!

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

by Dale Wimbrow, (c) 1934

Besides God, we know more than anyone else what is reflected back as we compare our lives with how God has called us to live. We know how we measure compared to His standard. May we continue to allow God’s Will to transform us into the beings He desires us to be so that when we do SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES we will find the essence of ourselves and the promises associated with living as children of God.

Have a great day SEEKING TO BE FOUND AS GOD WOULD HAVE US!
Carl

See other teEn-MAIL on Christian Sobriety