Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Object Lessons - The Antique Mirror

submitted by Pastor Van
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  James 1:23-24

Many of us have something that has come down through the family and is now a part of our home.  It may be an heirloom that is treasured because of its financial value or a table that was made by some family member years ago.  Possibly it is an old trunk that is collecting dust in the attic or storeroom you just won’t get rid of because it holds some fond memory of your family’s experiences.
Looking at an antique mirror that we have on a wall I thought about what it could tell if it was able to share all that it had reflected since it was made.  When purchased I’m sure it was quite expensive and probably adorned a rather well appointed room.  As the years went by it may have been replaced with a newer, brighter mirror or even a picture.  Possibly it found its way into the room of a young lady who stood for hours seeking the proper look with clothes, makeup and jewelry.
Still, I could not help but think about what the mirror must have seen.  Through the years in a family it may have reflected a lot of different things.  Possibly it reflected the images of love and tenderness as new parents held their baby before the mirror.  It may also have reflected the last look of a grieving widow as she prepared to go to the funeral of her husband of over fifty years.  All of the history of the family was reflected there.
There is one thing for sure; the mirror reflected what was real.  Mirrors cannot lie.  They merely reflect the images before them.  While we can put a spin on what took place in our lives and families, the mirror just reflects the truth.  Families have times that are good and times that are not.  There is love and sometimes hate.  There is faith and there is fear.  The mirror sees it all and just reflects the truth.  Try as you might, you just can’t fool a mirror.
As we consider the mirror of our lives we might not like what we see.  The real issue is not whether we like it or not, but whether we will see it honestly.  James says that we are prone to consider the mirror and forget what we really look like.  We put a spin on what we see and fail to be honest about our need or sin.  Such dishonesty with the true reflection of our lives stops us from dealing with ourselves.  He speaks of the Word of God as the mirror we fail to believe.  We glance, but do not look intently enough to see the truth about ourselves.  We walk away unaffected by what was reflected.
But there is another mirror in our life as believers; it is the mirror of the glory of the Lord.  We will be like Him!  There is coming a day when every believer will look into the mirror and see reflected the very face of Christ!  All sin gone, all righteousness received, we will be like Him!  The mirror will not lie.  God will complete His work in us. 

Scripture to Claim
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 

2 Corinthians 3:18

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