Proverbs 27:19 Mirror, mirror

As water reflects the face,
    so one’s life reflects the heart.

Isn't it amazing how sometimes you can look at a lake and see such a perfect reflection? Sometimes it is difficult to tell where the land ends and the reflected image begins!

Sometimes when we look in a mirror, we see what we want to see. Remember the wicked queen? "Mirror, mirror, on the wall . . . "  Now, she had an advantage in a mirror that would speak to her, and magic spells to change her appearance.  Even if we don't have an enchanted mirror, we may look into it and ignore the gray hairs, the wrinkles that are starting, and the fact that we just don't look quite as young as we feel!

I wonder if we ignore things about ourselves when we look into our best mirror - God's Word?

The Bible tells us many things about how we should appear -- does our reflection match up with the ideal? Are we paying attention to "walk" or are we satisfied just to "talk"?

Let's check out this group of verses from the book of James:

22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.  (James 1: 22-25)

Staying close to our Father in prayer, and shining the light of His Word onto our lives will allow us to "see" ourselves clearly, and then reflect that light for others to see.

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! (Ephesians 5:8)

And we have been charged with a large responsibility:

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

We need to remember that our outward lives reflect our inward heart. A life of strife or of foolish behavior reflects the fact that we are not absorbing the wisdom found in the Bible and living it out. Let's always try to reflect the light of Christ that is within us!