"Mirror, Mirror...."

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Who’s the _______ of them all?”

What would you put in the blank? How is it that you would like to see yourself? Do you see what you want? If you don’t, what do you do? Do you wash your face? Do you comb your hair? Do you change your clothes? OR do you get mad at the mirror and break it?

Have you ever seen those crazy mirrors that make you look funny? Some of them are curved to make you look short and fat, others to make you look tall and thin, and still others to make the top half of your body look one way and the lower half another, etc. Those mirrors can make us laugh because we know they don’t reveal the true image.

But what about mirrors that do show the true you? Did you know God has such a mirror for us? James mentioned it in the first chapter of his letter.

“(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)

Some people get mad at God’s mirror and stop reading it. They don’t like what they see so rather than changing or cleaning up their lives, they get rid of the mirror! Others want to change the mirror so it will reflect what THEY want to see. Thus they miss out on the blessing and freedom God desires to bring to their lives.

Just like when one looks into a mirror and sees there is dirt on their face, though they see it in the mirror, they don’t wash the mirror. The mirror is the tool that reveals the need to wash the face. Once that is done, the image looking back in the mirror is better. And this is true with our spiritual lives. As we look into God’s Word and see the specks and smudges which need to be cleaned up in our lives, once we have done that with the help of God, we can look back into God’s mirror and be pleased and encouraged by the image we see.

As we continue to stand before God’s mirror, looking intently into it and not forgetting what we see, our life will continue to be transformed more and more into the likeness of the Lord. ( 2 Corinthians 3:18) May we learn to appreciate the great benefit of using God’s mirror for the soul for its intended purpose.

Have a great day LOOKING GOOD!
Carl
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[This focus was originally sent 06/08/1998, (Edited some and the passage has been changed to ESV)]

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