THE MIRROR OF TRUTH

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. (James 1:23-24 NKJV)

There is an old fable of a palace, in which one room was remarkable above all others because it was lined with glass of a special quality.

Whenever a person entered whose life was inconsistent with truth, a mist blurred the surface of the mirrors so that he was unable to see himself clearly. It was when the Apostle Paul compared" his own self-centered goodness with the love and purity of Christ, he lost all hope of justifying himself, and confessed that the things which he had counted gain were only loss.

Truth and love are indissolubly connected. Love is of God, and so is truth. If you have the one, the other must follow. If the soul, looking into the mirror of God's Word, perceiving that there is a blur, and sets itself to remove all that has caused it; and if it continues in this attitude, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer that works, he shall be "blessed in his doing."

The blessedness of doing and becoming. It is only as we do, that we become. Even to behold Christ will not make us Christ-like in character, unless we translate into action what we have discovered in Him. The impressions made on the hearer through the ear are very transitory, like the breeze on the water. We look at ourselves in the mirror held up before us, and immediately go off and forget what manner of persons we were. It is only as we cease to be hearers who forget, and become doers that work, that we can make any progress in the Christian life and walk.

Listen attentively to the Word of truth, written or spoken. Be quick to notice the smallest symptom of inconsistency between your life and the perfect beauty of Jesus, and set yourself immediately to correct it. Be merciful to the failings of everyone else, but be merciless to your own. Let no fault remain uncorrected, and no call to duty unanswered. For you to live, let it be Christ. Your blessedness and happiness will come in choosing the Christ-life, in doing, and continuing to do what He would have you do.

PRAYER

Help us to cast out all those things which are contrary to Your peace, or that are not according to Your will, so that ours may be the quiet life of trust, faith, and obedience, longing for Your truth, and walking in the light thereof. In Jesus' name I pray this, AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #342:
I am the perfect Father.

Matthew 5:48 (WEB)
Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect.