Mirrors have been around a long time. Today they are made of glass, but the earliest
were made of various metals and even stone. Perhaps even earlier, someone noticed their reflection in a pool of water. Viola! Mirror!I’ve never seen a woman that
didn’t like a mirror. You know, “Vanity, of vanities.” Before I get in too deep
I had better follow up by saying men can’t seem to do without them either,
maybe not quite as much, but still guilty.
We all know how it is in the
morning after we awake. One of the first things we do is check ourselves out in
front of the bathroom mirror. You’re thinking, “My goodness, what is that
looking back at me! Is this a freak show?!”
Now if we all got up the next
morning like they did in the older movies, we would all look good. Did you ever
notice they had not a hair out of place? The women still had their makeup and
lipstick on, and of course no one had “morning foul mouth.” Even their pajamas
were still pressed!
It isn’t like that here at
our house. How about yours? I do know my wife and I really love each other,
because we can rise to meet a new day and she always looks like a princess to
me.
Anyway, back to mirrors. We
use mirrors basically to view what we can’t see without one. Isn’t that right?
There is no way I can see my face without some kind of mirror. I might look
okay, or I might look like something the cat hacked up.
Have you ever wondered what
God sees when He looks at us? The thing is, God doesn’t just see our face, He
sees our heart, and what does He say about it?
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?”
(Jeremiah 17:9)
Now that’s an eye-opener.
That’s like a teenager getting up in the morning and discovering a new zit when
looking in the mirror. Horror of horrors! And today’s a school day! Argh!!!
Be that as it may, that’s
what God sees. Nevertheless, the Scriptures tell us how to fix it. No, not the
zit, the heart! Following is one of three Scriptures I would like to share, and
I will do so first in the Kings James Version (KJV) and then the New Living
Translation (NLT). The NLT will make it so much easier to understand, and I
will do this for the next two Scripture passages also.
“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he
was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed.” (James 1:23-25
KJV)
“For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is
like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget
what you look like. But 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
1:23-25 NLT)
This verse says to “look
carefully into the perfect law that sets you free.” So, what is the “perfect
law?” James is referring to the law of righteousness that the apostle Paul
addressed in Romans 9:30-33. It is simply the law of grace and living by faith
in Christ. The Jews missed it, because they wanted works of the law to
supersede just exercising faith. Believe me, they were gung-ho on works. It’s
in the Bible.
We can start right here
changing that ole ugly heart, by living by faith in the Lord, day after day.
The Spirit of God lives in each Christian, so allow Him to actually live
through us and glorify Jesus. In His doing so, it will change us, which is just
what we see in the next verse.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
(2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV)
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see
and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more
and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT)
A Christian out of fellowship
is a Christian reflecting himself or herself instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What we want is to reflect Jesus Christ in how we live. There is an old hymn
called Let Others See Jesus In You, and that is where we want to be in our
lives. In other words we want to be a mirror that will reflect, not ole Grumpy
Gus, but the love of Jesus. Maybe by that alone, someone will want to know what
we have that is so special … and we can tell them. Our opportunity to witness
is open. Now our last verse.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face
to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV)
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling
reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything
completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT)
As the verse above says, we
can’t see everything clearly now, because we still have that old sin nature
within us. It’s like looking into one of those very old mirrors that just
didn’t show a perfectly clear image.
We have to be careful about
this, because Satan will stick anything in front of us, hiding our sinful
heart, making us think his way is the right way. However, the Lord wants us to
trust Him. He wants to live through each of us and change our heart so that it
reflects His righteousness and not ours (we have none independently anyway).
Won’t it be great to wake up
in Heaven and see what Jesus wants us to reflect instead of what we think looks
good? We all have a little vanity in us, and that is what needs to be removed.
I must share one more verse,
and when we step in front of our mirror, this is what God wants to see in us.
“The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the
Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits
are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive
the courage of those with repentant hearts.” (Isaiah 57:15 NLT)
God can clearly see us as we
truly are, all the way down to our very soul. He knows us even better than we
know ourselves because He sees us as we really are. Isn’t it obvious we need
some kind of spiritual mirror to see as He would have us see? Actually, He has
made that provision. It’s called the Bible, and He has even made it possible
that those who are in Him can understand it. (Read 1 Corinthians 2:14-16) Now how
does He do that? He opens our eyes to the Truth … Himself.
Going back to James 1:23-25 that
we read earlier, notice it says, “For if
you listen to the word…” The Word (Bible) is our mirror and we listen to
the word with the eyes of our soul.
Now back to 2 Corinthians
3:18, it says, “So all of us who have had
that veil removed can see…” God not only provides the mirror, but also the
ability to see as He would have us see. (Again, read 1 Corinthians 2:14-16.)
Finally, notice 1 Corinthians
13:12 that we read earlier. “Now we see
things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see
everything with perfect clarity…” None of us in these earthly bodies will
ever understand everything in the Bible (Isaiah 55:8-9), but there is coming a
day when we shall see Him face to face and our eyes will be opened.
No one in their right mind
would want to leave their house and go to a fancy party looking like they were
trampled by a herd of buffalo. So, all the needed time necessary is spent in
front of the mirror.
Shouldn’t every Christian
have the same desire spiritually that we have physically? Shouldn’t we spend all
the needed time necessary in front of the Mirror before we face the world?
As I said earlier, we use a
mirror to see what we cannot see without one. The world hides the truth. The
world doesn’t even know the truth. Only in the Word of God can we really see
and know the Truth. While we examine our self by that perfect Mirror, the Holy
Spirit grooms our soul and perfects us to reflect Jesus Christ in our life.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
Grant Phillips
Email: Phillip5769@twc.com
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
