REFLECTIONS

Face in the Mirror

After successful surgeries had removed cataracts from my eyes, I jokingly wrote a warning to some friends. “Be careful,” I cautioned, “the surgery causes wrinkles on your face.” The surgeries had cleared my vision, you see, and the mirror revealed deeper crevices on my face that previously had not been so distinct. Suddenly, I saw myself differently, a little more elderly, a semblance of youth stripped away.

Of course, the removal of the cataracts had really not changed my appearance. The surgery had given new life to the world. It became brighter and fresher; its details more vivid, and its beauty more stunning. But the freshness of improved vision also revealed a truth about me. The face in the mirror presented a new reality. The face I saw there was the one everyone else had been seeing all along.

Funny isn’t it, how we can become so blind to ourselves. We are almost all guilty of self deceit. Remember, after his affair with Bathsheba, King David had her husband killed in the front line of battle. God sent Nathan to him with a story of a treacherous rich man who took advantage of a poor man. The story so angered David that he declared that the rich man should suffer a severe penalty for the injustice. To which Nathan replied, “You are the man!” Then David, seeing the reflection of his own face in the mirror of his mind, confessed his guilt, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:1-13)

Apostle John wrote, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

Before the cataract surgeries, the world looked as gray as a rainy day; yet it still seemed so true. Then surgery opened my eyes. I saw the world with clarity, and I saw myself as I am fully known, wrinkles and all. But cataract surgery was not my first eye opener. The Bible performed a cataract surgery of its own.

Bible reading illuminated the world I see. From it the world is brighter and fresher; its details more vivid and its beauty more stunning. And the freshness of improved vision revealed even a greater truth about the face I see in the mirror each day. The face I see there is the one my forgiving God has seen all along, sins and all. And by reading of his loving grace, I found reality is just as Jesus proclaimed.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

Click here for Printer Friendly Version