What Reflects Us? 5-20-2019 BLL

What Reflects us?

“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)

There is no magic associated with the Word of God. It is not based upon magic. Certainly a mirror can reflect physical imperfections if they exist. Spiritual distortions can only be viewed and evaluated by the Holy Spirit using the Holy recorded Word of God. There is no gain in possessing a mirror. Mirrors hold no magic or curses and breaking one does not yield seven years bad luck as the old wives tail go. What a mere reflecting piece of glass cannot do as a mirror, the Holy Spirit can reveal real truths concerning each of us. The biblical looking glass can bring great blessing. He who reads or hears the Word, but does not believe or obey it, is “a forgetful hearer” (v. 25) who is deceiving himself. It is these who merely discovers and “behold” themselves in the Word and shrug it away as normal inefficiencies; no one can keep it are not only forgetful but willingly disrespectful to Father God. The Greek word used here for “beholding” and “beholdeth” means “looking from a distance”—standing erect, as it were, while posing before the mirror. The man who “looketh into” the Word, on the other hand, “and continueth therein,” being an obedient doer of its work, is the one who receives eternal blessing and life everlasting. The Greek word here for “looketh” conveys the idea of intense scrutiny, requiring the one who is looking actually to stoop down in order to see. One must stand tall to see afar off but the close loker must stoop down close to the reflection to know it’s truths.

As we allow the mirror of God’s Word to evaluate and correct our lives, “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).

Yet this is only a token of what we can experience in the future. “For now we (as John wrote) 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). Now we can see ourselves in the written Word. When we see the living Word, “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2)

Think not that a glance now and then into Gods written word will be sufficient to sustain you in good graces with yourself and God. A casual opening and closing of the Word of God builds little if any faith. We must apply ourselves to a study of the Word to grow spiritually. To please God, we must do more than simply peep into His love letters. Know peace, know God. Amen 5-20-2019 BLL