A Message From The Mirror
James 1:22-27
James likens God’s word to a mirror in which one may see his or her reflection. Church memebers find security in their religious experience for many reasons.
Faithfulness
Tithing
Offerings
Worship
While all of these are good things, needful things, and expedient they are not the only things. People love good preaching, good singing, and quality music; they do not want to spend much time looking into the mirror of Gods Holy Word. How can we escape looking into the mirror of the Word at the man that God beholds every day?
Three things are required of us concerning the mirror of the Word of God: Inspection, Reflection, and Reaction.
Inspection would stem from the word looketh (comes from the Greek word parakupto which means to bend or stoop down for a closer look). God has provided us with the perfect law of liberty to inspect ourselves with. Amos the prophet declared that he saw a plumb line left for us to gauge our lives by. The word of God being the plumb line or mirror that we use as an
uncontested and unchanging guide. Our eyes must be continually anointed with eye salve through earnest prayer enabling us to have understanding of the word and see ourselves clearly thereby.
Reflection would be the continually coming to the word to inspect and measure ourselves. When we reflect on the image that we see in the mirror we must be reminded that we should be seeing Christ instead of our own reflection in the mirror. Though we become embroiled in the pressures of life, we must never forget to reflect on our standing with the word of God.
Reaction is how we respond to our inspection of our reflection. An African chief was given a mirror as a gift from a missionary. Having never beheld his own reflection in a mirror, he looked into the mirror and the screamed and smashed it to pieces. This seems to be the modus operandi for many “Christians”. Change churches, find a new translation of the bible, or just quit reading it altogether. No matter if our reaction is to destroy the mirror our reflection will stay the same. Proper reaction would be being transformed by the renewing of our mind and subjecting to the Gospel. Our reflection should show more of Jesus than it does of ourselves.
A man sees blemishes and imperfections in a mirror and is moved by what he sees. As long as he continues to behold his imperfections and deformities he will be prompted to alter himself. Upon going away from the mirror he will forget his own likeness and no longer be convicted to change his appearance. So it is with God’s word, while reading and hearing it preached one will be moved to conform to its teachings. When one neglects the Word of God no conviction for changing ourselves remains.
Audie Murphy a much decorated WW2 hero wrote a book called “The Bullet Had No Name On It”. He was responsible for over 240 German deaths and single handedly captured whole companies of enemy soldiers. He stormed a machine gun nest in an old farmhouse. As he rushed in the door he saw across the vestibule a horrible creature with blood shot eyes, frazzled hair, a powder stained face, and bedraggled clothes. He fired short burst from his machine gun at the creature. To his surprise he heard no scream or thudding of bullets into flesh but rather breaking glass!! He had shot a full length mirror with his reflection. He had been so long in battle he forgot his own image. Don’t forget to look in the mirror of God’s Word??
