The Man in the Mirror

The other day, I saw some gravestones on Facebook, that had friends names, and birth and "death dates and causes" fictitiously posted, so I accepted the app and allowed it to create one for me as well. Well, it said that I lived 96 years and died by looking in the mirror. Anyway, that got me thinking (actually it got me laughing hysterically, but then I got to thinking.) 

Potential gravestone!

When I look in the mirror, what do I see? Do I see the same thing others see when they look at me? Or more? I have heard it said that the eyes are the window to the soul. I am not sure what this phrase means, but I do know that no one who looks at me, really sees what is inside my soul. Only God and I know what goes on deep inside. 

So who is this man in the mirror? Why would looking in the mirror kill me? And the most important question of all, how does this relate to Christianity? I shall attempt to answer and relate all these questions together in the lines that follow.

The Bible states that every inclination of man's heart is evil from childhood. Genesis 6: 5, 8:21. Note in the context of these passages it is not singling one particular man out, but emphasizing that we are all evil from childhood. In the New Testament, it states that there are none righteous, not even one. Romans 3:10.  Fortunately for me, other people cannot look through my eyes and see the depravity in my soul. Nor can I look into your eyes and see the depravity in you.  It is generally through our actions and words that we are judged by others. However, there remains the mirror.  When I look into the mirror, I can look at my reflection, or I can look deeper. Sometimes it scares me to look deeper.  Maybe someday it will kill me, but for now, not really. 

Fortunately, for the Christian, there is forgiveness. It is not that we are better than others, although we SHOULD be, given what we have been given by our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus forgave us by the shedding of His blood. He willingly paid the debt that we had for our sins.  He did ask us to stop sinning, so we really should. We should do as Christ asks, esp. since He has done so much for us. "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. But 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 1:23-25

The Holy Bible : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984). Jas 1:23-25.

So to wrap this article up, let me say that although looking in the mirror will not kill me or you, it should cause us to think of what is happening in our hearts and double check our motives. We should evaluate our lives as we begin the year of 2012 and ask ourselves if we are doing what God wants us to do, or merely gazing at our reflection in the mirror and forgetting what we look like when we turn away?

The End of This Year

As I look back over the year of 2011, I find myself wondering who lived my life this year. I did very little that I had planned to do at the start of it.  I just did not seem to have ANY motivation. My life borders on a disaster in many ways. There are many things left undone, and it bothers me.

So what does this have to do with a Blog based on Christianity?

God is still on the throne, and despite my failures, He loves me still! Jesus came to heal and to help us. He came to restore our relationship with The Father, the Creator of the universe.

What makes this relevant to the end of the year?

Easy, as we end a year, we begin a new one. Personally, I plan to make 2012 a much better year, and to do a better job of fulfilling my obligations and responsibilities. And who knows, maybe the Mayans are right, the world will end, or change, or maybe Jesus will come back.

The bottom line is that Jesus loves us all and will continue to love us this year, next year and always!  He does not give His love or forgiveness conditionally, with the exception of our acceptance of them.  Christianity is different from all other religions because all other religions focus on man's seeking God or gods, and Christianity focuses on God seeking man.

God bless us all!

The Start of a New Year

On the radio today, I heard a comment about how to start the New Year right.  It had to do with letting the old one go, including the past hurts, problems, et cetera.

Kaleidoscope picture

This is true, not only at the New Year but every day as a Christian.  Jesus forgives us, and throws our sins as far away as the east is from the west. We too are required to forgive others as Jesus has forgiven us. In fact, Jesus warns us that if we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven either.

One of the main differences between Christianity and all other religions, is that Christianity teaches that we cannot ever be good enough to be forgiven or earn God's love and a place in heaven. Instead, Christ paid the penalty for my sins and yours, when He died on the cross. We cannot and do not have to earn forgiveness or the love of our God.

We celebrate the birth of Jesus each year on December 25th and this is a great place to start thinking about the New Year, new start and new life brought to us by our Savior. He entered this world as a baby so that He could experience life as a human, and sacrifice His life in our place.

So as we close the chapter on one year of our lives, and begin another, let us put past hurts, mistakes and problems behind us, and begin a new year, new life and help bring healing and grace to ourselves and our fellow man.

Just as a kaleidoscope is different every time we look in it, let us continue to change and bring glory to our God and Savior, Jesus Christ this New Year!