As we are in the beginning of the Advent season, it would be wise of us to take time and examine why we need Christmas. To truly understand Christmas, we need to begin by looking at ourselves and our nature and then examining that compared to the Righteousness and Holiness of God. Examining ourselves is nothing new as we look into mirrors on a daily basis. The typical mirror that hangs in your bathroom is used to help us see what the world sees. We look in those mirrors all the time to make sure nothing is in our teeth, we want to make sure our hair looks good (for those who have hair), that our clothes look good, and we match, and to makes sure no toothpaste is left on our face (admittedly I have not looked for that walked out with toothpaste in my beard). Those mirrors are important for our appearance to the world. They help us represent us. But those mirrors only show us the outside of us. Those mirrors are used to make us look presentable to the public, but they don’t tell the full story of what is going on with inside of us. We need a different kind of mirror to examine the inside of us.
That mirror that examines the inside of us is the Bible. The bible reveals the things of God and reveals the truth to us. The bible shows us the distortion of our trueness in our sin nature. It compares our lives to the Holiness of God. When we look in the bible we should be convicted and challenged to conform to the ways of Christ. Paul says this about our lives in Romans 12:2; ” Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” As we stare at the bible and allow it to show us our true self, we should allow it to renew our mind. The bible sees the inside of us, were as the mirror on the wall shows us the outside. The inside is what truly matters.
So, the mirror in which you pay most attention will determine your outlook on life. If the mirror that points to the outside is most important to you then your life will show that. If your value is determined by the outward appearance with a hollow inside, then the physical mirror is where you find value. If the mirror that points to the inside is most important to you then your life will show it. Your passion will be discerning the will of God for your life, looking to see how you can serve others for Christ, watching the language you use, building up the Kingdom of God and doing the things that are acceptable to God.
My prayer is that I look more intently and more passionately into the mirror of the bible. That I allow it determine everything about me. I may never have wealth or success defined by the world on this side of heaven, but what I will have is eternal wealth and success defined by the word of God that last for eternity. When all is said and done what I want people to say about me is that John’s life mirrored the Word of God, in him we saw Jesus and in him the glory of Christ was seen. That is my prayer for me. And this Advent season will be one of continued examination of the inside.
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