1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Whether we look into a silvered mirror or see a reflection looking up from a bit of still water, people are fascinated with the way a mirrored surface reflects the face of the world, and of themselves back to them. We peer into a mirror for many reasons. While once rare, today they are everyday objects.
How do the mirrors that we look into each day to comb our hair, and brush our teeth and check how our clothes look, represent something of God’s message to us?
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives us the idea that even with the things that the Lord has shown us we can only understand a small part of God’s full truth. How amazing that that should have been fully enclosed in this small child that was to be born into Bethlehem to Mary.
We will meet Christ face to face at some point to fully comprehend, but until then we peer into the gospels and seek to see God’s plan. Do you ever wonder how you appear to someone, and glance in a mirror to get an idea? That is what we do as we study the scriptures…. we want to know how God sees us, and what we can do to be more pleasing.
Looking in the Mirror
Do you smooth your hair? Tuck in your shirt? Apply a little lipstick? Or maybe change your outfit altogether? In a way, that is what we do when we look at what God has spoken to us. We see those things that are out of place, and want to fix them.
We also become familiar with what we should expect to see…. the features and the expressions of our own faces. God wants us to know who we are in Him, and to carry that memory of the reflection of Christ with us. When we look into a mirror we can think of the image which can be ours.
James 1:23-25
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Part of that image of Christ in us is imprinted through imitating Him. As we seek to obey godly admonition and encouragements, our character becomes molded into the love and freedom of spirit of Our Lord Jesus.
Matthew 13:16-17
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
One of the things we like about mirrors is the way light is reflected from them, and small mirrors are incorporated into Christmas decorations to give sparkle. Since the Jesse tree ornament for today is a star (a reminder of God’s promise to Abraham), a pretty ornament to make would be a cut-out star with mirror tiles attached. You can find mirror tiles @ Dick Blick stores
Sing the carol “We Three Kings”.
