Mirror Reflections

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. -James 1:23-24

When I look in a mirror, it's usually not for the sake of seeing myself. It's to make sure I'm presentable, that I don't have anything stuck in my teeth and my hair is in place. Or maybe something is amiss and I see pen smeared across my face, or realize I need to hit the gym a little harder. If I see something, I usually try to fix it right away.

Not this man. He looks in the mirror, notices some pepper in his teeth, gum in his hair, and dirt on his face. He's aware of these things he needs to fix. But then he gets distracted. He glances away from the mirror and is on to the next thing before he does anything about his appearance.

So the Word reflects our spiritual condition. We look at it and see things that need to change - gossip that needs to stop, cursing that shouldn't be said, love of money we shouldn't have, extra-marital relationships that smudge our hearts.

But how many of us actually do something to change those things - immediately? Instead, don't we tend to put down our mirrors and think, "Man, I really need to change that," and then forget about it as soon as we move on to the next thing?

We choose to walk around in front of everyone else, wearing our dirt and grim on the faces of our souls for all to see. And the whole time we've forgotten to do anything about it.

I sure don't waste time trying to fix my face or hair when I see it's amiss. Why don't I rush to do the same with my heart?