Mirrors

Mirrors

Between rush hour in Cincinnati and road construction in Kentucky, yesterday's drive to Nashville took almost 11 hours. Something that happened earlier in the day had me thinking about how important mirrors are. Sideview mirror to pull out, rearview mirror to check traffic, and the other sideview mirror to change lanes, can you imagine what the drive would be like without having mirrors to navigate with?

Earlier in the day, I had rented a rototiller and tilled up our garden. After finishing, cleaning the tiller, I headed back to Home Depot to return it, with a drive-through diet coke on the way. When I got to Home Depot, I glanced in the mirror only to find a huge mud streak on my face. No wonder they were smiling so much at McDonald's, they must have thought I had war paint on. But at least the mirror saved me from similar embarrassment as I walked through Home Depot.

Using mirrors is scriptural in case you wondered. In Exodus 38:8, they took the mirrors of the ladies and used them to line the bottom of the basin they washed in when they entered the tabernacle. Every time someone came to wash they would see themselves reflected in the mirrors and see themselves as they really were.

The Word of God is to be like a mirror to us as we read it (James 1:23-25), revealing areas in our lives that we need to clean up or change, showing us things that we can't see ourselves. The same thing can happen in conversations where we're talking about someone else but we see ourselves and our shortcomings in what is being talked about.

Whether we're reading our Bibles or a good book, talking with family or friends, or just observing and listening to others, we want to take advantage of the many mirrors life offers. Paul said in II Corinthians 3:18 that one key to being changed into the Lord's image, into reflecting Him to the world, is to see ourselves reflected like in a mirror. Doing that, and acting on what we see, will cause us to be transformed into men and women whom God can use to reveal His glory.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church