Telltale Mirror

Bible Reading: James 1:21-25

"Sometimes it almost seems like Miss Norton knows everything I do,” Arthur said on the way home from church. “She looked straight at me after reading a Bible verse that mentioned lying and…” Arthur decided it’d be best not to go on and quickly changed the subject. “Look at Darci’s face.”

Mom laughed. “What have you been eating, Darci?” She handed the little girl a mirror from her purse.

“We had ’freshments in Sunday school,” Darci said, looking in the mirror and rubbing at her mouth.

When they gathered for lunch a little later, Arthur grinned at his sister. “There’s still chocolate on your mouth, Darci,” he told her.

Darci jumped up. “I forgot,” she said, and she hurried off to wash her face.

Arthur laughed. “How could she forget to wash that off after seeing herself in your mirror? I wouldn’t forget.”

“Don’t be so sure, Arthur,” said Mom. “I think we all sometimes forget how we look. I’m often surprised when I see myself in the mirror of God’s Word.”

“The mirror of God’s Word?” Arthur repeated. “What does that mean?”

“When we read the Bible, we often get a glimpse of how we look in God’s sight,” said Mom. “We see things we should—or should not—be doing.”

Arthur looked at the table, remembering the verses his teacher had read.

“If we see our faults and ignore them, we’re like Darci,” Dad said. “It doesn’t do any good to look in the mirror—in our case, the mirror of God’s Word—and see our faults if we don’t do something about them.”

“What should we do?” Arthur asked.

Dad smiled. “The Bible shows us our need for Jesus. It tells us how He died and rose again to save us from sin because we could never save ourselves. Through Him, we have forgiveness from sin and the power to turn from it and do what’s right.”

Mom nodded. “When God’s Word shows us something we’ve done wrong, we need to remember that we belong to Jesus and confess our sin to Him. He will forgive us and help us change.”

Just then, Darci returned to the table. “My face is all clean now.”

“Good,” Dad said. “Let’s thank God for our food and then we’ll eat.”

-Barbara J. Westberg

How About You?

What do you see when you look in the mirror of God’s Word? If you see sin in your life, don’t forget it or try to hide it. God already knows all about it. Confess your sin to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you. Then trust Him to help you make the changes that are needed. He will help you turn from your sinful ways and do what’s right.

Today's Key Verse: Hebrews 4:12 The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword…it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (NIV)

Today's Key Thought:

God’s Word reveals sin