The evil queen asked the magic mirror who was the fairest in the land and it revealed Snow Whites face. You know the rest of the story. What do you see in the mirror?
Jer 17:7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (ESVST)
Do we trust God enough to look into the mirror and see what He has to show us? If we do, then we will be transformed. James speaks emphatically about this opportunity for transformation.
James 1:22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. 25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. (The Message)
The problem with our thinking is we are often trapped in our fallen understanding. We are stuck in this temporal perspective we call reality. We are often stuck in the world’s list keeping paradigm. When we see and act like a fallen Adam, we don’t use our mind of Christ to see the truths God has for us that transform our minds. Grace sets us free from lists. God’s eternal life sets us free from the temporary. The purpose is to give us a mirror to peer into and see who we are, listen to His truths, let Him transform our thinking and begin to see Jesus looking back. Our self-image is transformed into His image. This can be difficult for us since God is eternal. Time is in Him. He is not confined by time. Still God is patient to meet us where we are, in our time and place and move us to a new location, eternal life. To see His reality requires some time in front of the mirror. God needs to remove some old dead stuff. Eyes lose scales. Wounded hearts are repaired. Clouded thinking receives rays of truth. The muck and mire of lies are washed away by living water.
As practical exercise take the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). In the story there is the son that takes the cash value of his inheritance and goes out to spend it on all his passions. In the end he comes home to a welcoming Father who has been waiting for him. The Father has nothing but joy for the son. There is no punishment or acts of contrition or penance or anything like that. The Father reveals His heart of Grace, super abounding Grace. There is also an older son in the story. He is jealous that the younger son gets away with it. He complains that he has been loyal and hard-working so why no party for him only to find out that the Father loves him just as much as his younger brother. So in the story which character are you? This is a mirror mirror opportunity. Which heart do you have?
Jesus uses many parables in this same way. He expects you to look into His “word” and see what He has to show you. You will naturally identify with a person or concept in the story. Jesus reveals in this “mirror” who you believe you are. I want to let you in on a truth. This is very important. The character you should identify with is the Jesus character.
2 Cor And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit. (AMP)
The Mirror Mirror on the Wall is our opportunity to let God show us who we are and transform us into the image of Jesus. When you identify with a particular character or concept of the story ask God to come in and reveal the truth of who you really are. If you find yourself as the older brother ask God why and let Him remove that critical nature. If you are the younger brother let God show you how forgiven you really are. Let Him show you how much He loves you. In the end you will step into an eternal perspective free from all the stuff. You will get to live the life of Jesus. You get to live from His faith instead of striving in yours. You will begin to see the fairest of them all; Jesus as your reflection. That is pretty awesome.
Yay God!
Lance
alancetotheheart 