LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. James 1:23-24 (NKJV)

Did you look into a mirror this morning? What did you see? What did you do about it? In the scripture above, James exhorts us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. If God's Word is a mirror, what do you see when you step in front of it? Do you see yourself as you really are? As God sees you? Are you afraid of what you see? So, let's take a closer look at ourselves; examine who we really are.

Do you just take a quick glance? Do you read and pray out of ritual and good conscience? Are you looking deeply or just choosing to forget what you see? Is what you see unforgettable? Job said "I abhor myself: I repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:6 (NKJV) Does my sin abhor me?

Compare a color photograph to an x-ray. The photo is colorful, easy to look at, and sometimes brings a smile. An x-ray, on the other hand, is black and white, and pretty boring to look at, yet it reveals what is broken on the inside; something not apparent in the color photo. God's Word is like the x-ray. It reveals what is going on inside of us.

Let's go back to our personal examination. We cannot be hearers only. We cannot substitute reading for doing. No more quick glances and walking away, forgetting what we saw. Begin to use the light of God's Word to show you up-close in His mirror what He sees, and do something about it!

This requires time, attention, and sincere devotion. Our deeper spiritual examinations will begin to change how we look and how we act. Confess sin, claim forgiveness and conquer self and sin. Verse 25 sums it up. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25 (NKJV)

When we 'do the Word' we find liberty and blessing. God sets us free! The blessing comes in the doing and we will like what we see.

Lord, help me to see exactly what You see when look into the mirror of my life. Set me free from all sin, let me see a reflection of You as I gaze into that mirror. Amen

Janet Stutzman