Warm hellos friends, brethren, co-workers, spiritual family, and scattered children of God, from our offices here on the Gulf Coast. My wife and I pray and hope this finds you all doing well, and that again your week has been blessed.

I remember as a child this familiar children’s rhyme. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall…”  In the rhyme, if I correctly remember, the mirror supposedly would talk back.

Over the years, I’ve noticed how many superstitions there are regarding mirrors. In some cultures, people will not allow a one year old or younger child to view him or herself in a mirror. I’ve heard it’s because the child’s growth will be limited because their reflection will be frozen in the mirror. Sounds crazy, but some people sincerely believe it!

The most commonly known superstition is that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. This belief is widely spread even yet today. This came in part from the ancient Romans. They believed life was renewed every 7 years, and since a mirror contained a person’s likeness, when the mirror was broken, the person who gazed into it would have bad luck until the next seven-year-cycle.  Again, no basis of truth, but many still hold on to its belief. There are a lot of things people hold on to, believe, and do today, that have no truth in them. Humans are strange aren’t we? Critical thinking, asking questions? Naw, that’s not popular.

In spite of some of these things I mention, mirrors can be useful tools for us.  They reveal things about us that otherwise we would not see or know.

When we gaze into a mirror, we can see how we look to others.  Is that tie on correctly? Is that shirt collar buttoned?  Does the outfit look color coordinated?  Is there a piece of meat between my teeth?

What about facial expression?  Look in the mirror and smile. Then frown.  Then, just relax and be normal. How do people you come in contact with see you?  Does your “normal” expression tend to be a frown, or a happier outlook? I’m not saying to put on a false face, but what about improving your genuine expression?

Aha! So we can see how useful a mirror can be.  We all think we could spot ourselves easily in a crowd, but seriously, what would we do without mirrors? It would be more difficult to find out what needs changed in our personal appearance if we did not have a mirror.  For those ladies who wear makeup, how difficult would it be to do so, without a mirror?

In monthly bible studies I’ve covered the book of James. The law of God, revealed in the Bible is like a mirror. Yes, it really is.  When we look at it properly, we are able to see our own human nature just like it is. Truth is truth. God’s Word does not lie. We may not like what we see, but God’s Word reveals what genuinely is. We can see the flaws that need to be removed.

The Ten Commandments for instance are another mirror.  If we take things that do not belong to us, and belong to others, we might know it is wrong in God’s eyes, but when we look into God’s mirror we see that this is the commandment against stealing, for us.

A person who does not honor his parents, does not clearly know how God views this action, unless he or she looks into God’s law and sees the commandment to honor one’s parents.

That is why studying God’s Laws are so important.  By doing so, we see what needs to be removed from our character and what needs changed.  Once we see it though, is only the first step.

The second step, is to remove it! James 1:22-25 says our normal reaction, is when we look in the mirror and see the flaw, is to look the other way and ignore it. It’s like when I look in the mirror, see a piece of food in my teeth, and don’t like what I see.  So I throw the mirror away, right? That’s illogical, at least for me.

How do you look to God?  Take time to examine yourself closely in His mirror…His laws contained within the pages of the Bible. Let’s be sure our character is clean, and well groomed. Some day we will see God face to face…that will be much more revelatory than any mirror we have today. As we enter the Sabbath…reflect on this with me will you?

Arms up friends! Our prayers and thoughts are with you daily. Please do pray for us as well.