But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (Jas 1:22-25)
How many times has the above passage been used in sermons and articles? I think I have even used it myself, at least once if not more on this blog. We must constantly look at ourselves in the mirror of God's word and then we will see all of our faults and be able to fix them, right? I recently had an experience that made me stop and rethink all of that.
We had the privilege of keeping our grandsons for a while, and had taken them to their favorite eating joint. Silas sat across from me in the booth and we were discussing school or piano or something of the sort. He leaned down to get a sip of his soda then looked right at me and said, "Grandma?"
"Yes?" I encouraged.
"You have two different eyes, don't you? One big eye and one little eye."
It took a minute for me to realize what he meant. So then I explained that I had very sick eyes (which is exactly what one doctor called them), and that the "little eye" had needed so many surgeries that I couldn't hold it open as well as I could the other one. He was perfectly satisfied with the explanation and we went on to talk about other things.
That night I looked in the mirror, wondering where was this "little eye" that he saw. I had never noticed that much difference. That's when I realized that every time I looked in the mirror I only looked at the other eye. It has had surgeries too, and it is also "sick," but it has not been medically abused as much as the other. When I made myself look at both eyes I was actually startled. Since I always focus on the other eye, I had never really noticed exactly how different the two eyes look.
Don't you suppose the same thing can happen when we look in the mirror James spoke about? Simply looking in the mirror is not enough when we only look at the good we do and refuse to look at the very sick parts of our souls, the parts that really need spiritual medicine.
So here is today's challenge: don't just look at the big eye; focus on the little one, the one you really need to see. I can't fix my "little eye," but you can fix yours right up, if you are brave enough to really look at it and honest enough to change.
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. (Luke 6:42)
Dene Ward
How many times has the above passage been used in sermons and articles? I think I have even used it myself, at least once if not more on this blog. We must constantly look at ourselves in the mirror of God's word and then we will see all of our faults and be able to fix them, right? I recently had an experience that made me stop and rethink all of that.
We had the privilege of keeping our grandsons for a while, and had taken them to their favorite eating joint. Silas sat across from me in the booth and we were discussing school or piano or something of the sort. He leaned down to get a sip of his soda then looked right at me and said, "Grandma?"
"Yes?" I encouraged.
"You have two different eyes, don't you? One big eye and one little eye."
It took a minute for me to realize what he meant. So then I explained that I had very sick eyes (which is exactly what one doctor called them), and that the "little eye" had needed so many surgeries that I couldn't hold it open as well as I could the other one. He was perfectly satisfied with the explanation and we went on to talk about other things.
That night I looked in the mirror, wondering where was this "little eye" that he saw. I had never noticed that much difference. That's when I realized that every time I looked in the mirror I only looked at the other eye. It has had surgeries too, and it is also "sick," but it has not been medically abused as much as the other. When I made myself look at both eyes I was actually startled. Since I always focus on the other eye, I had never really noticed exactly how different the two eyes look.
Don't you suppose the same thing can happen when we look in the mirror James spoke about? Simply looking in the mirror is not enough when we only look at the good we do and refuse to look at the very sick parts of our souls, the parts that really need spiritual medicine.
So here is today's challenge: don't just look at the big eye; focus on the little one, the one you really need to see. I can't fix my "little eye," but you can fix yours right up, if you are brave enough to really look at it and honest enough to change.
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. (Luke 6:42)
Dene Ward
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