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James 1:22-25
James 1:22-25
What would your life be like if all of your mirrors were taken away from you? Now for some folks it might not make a great deal of difference. We use the mirror to see if our hair is in place. Men use a mirror when they shave to make sure their covering the ground adequately. When I put on a tie I have to do it in front of a mirror or it’s not going to look right. We use the mirror so we might look our best on the outside and there’s nothing wrong with that. Man looks on the outward appearance.
But God looks on the heart, and so we need a mirror for the inner person and that mirror is the Word of God. James tells us that in James chapter 1 verse 23, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and immediately forgeteth what manor of man he was. But whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
He’s saying here’s a fellow who looks into the mirror and he sees that his face is dirty; he glances at it, goes away with a dirty face. Now the mirror didn’t change and he didn’t change. Here’s another man who gazes into this mirror, verse 25 of James chapter 1, “But whoso gazes into the perfect law of liberty, he sees what he’s like” (paraphrase) oh he wants to do something about it! He cleanses himself, he goes away better.
You see the Word of God is the mirror; the Word reveals what we really are. This is why some people won’t read it. It tells them too much about themselves. But the mirror’s no good to us unless we use it and use it regularly. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to use a mirror on somebody else? You hold the mirror in front of your eyes and try to look at somebody else’s face behind you; it’s not too easy to do. Before you use the mirror on somebody else, God says, “Use it on yourself.” Take time to be holy. Take time to look into the Word of God. See what you are really like and then ask the Lord to make you more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t just be a hearer, be a doer of God’s Word.
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By Back to the BibleJames 1:22-25
What would your life be like if all of your mirrors were taken away from you? Now for some folks it might not make a great deal of difference. We use the mirror to see if our hair is in place. Men use a mirror when they shave to make sure their covering the ground adequately. When I put on a tie I have to do it in front of a mirror or it’s not going to look right. We use the mirror so we might look our best on the outside and there’s nothing wrong with that. Man looks on the outward appearance.
But God looks on the heart, and so we need a mirror for the inner person and that mirror is the Word of God. James tells us that in James chapter 1 verse 23, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and immediately forgeteth what manor of man he was. But whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
He’s saying here’s a fellow who looks into the mirror and he sees that his face is dirty; he glances at it, goes away with a dirty face. Now the mirror didn’t change and he didn’t change. Here’s another man who gazes into this mirror, verse 25 of James chapter 1, “But whoso gazes into the perfect law of liberty, he sees what he’s like” (paraphrase) oh he wants to do something about it! He cleanses himself, he goes away better.
You see the Word of God is the mirror; the Word reveals what we really are. This is why some people won’t read it. It tells them too much about themselves. But the mirror’s no good to us unless we use it and use it regularly. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to use a mirror on somebody else? You hold the mirror in front of your eyes and try to look at somebody else’s face behind you; it’s not too easy to do. Before you use the mirror on somebody else, God says, “Use it on yourself.” Take time to be holy. Take time to look into the Word of God. See what you are really like and then ask the Lord to make you more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t just be a hearer, be a doer of God’s Word.