Sometimes I look in the mirror for longer than I should. I look at my eyes and notice how the color of the day changes the tone of blue. Eyes fascinate me. It is the first thing I notice in others and the characteristic of my face that I like most. I look at my skin and notice the crevices where my smile is already starting to leave lines; evidence of the profound happy memories that perpetuate the smile. I’m not afraid of wrinkles. I love the way my dad’s face looks when he smiles, the skin around his eyes folding into the familiar wrinkles and dimples. I can already see Dad’s lines forming on my face. I see the three days stubble and lament the need to shave. Surely facial hair was a product of the Fall. I see the receding hair line and the thinning spot that looks like a skullcap and wonder if there are any other hair styles that hide this malady. I notice the pimples and the hair that grows between my eye brows and out of my nose. I look in the mirror for longer than I should.
I’m not looking at a mirror right now; I am watching the cursor move from left to right with words chasing it. And though I am not looking at a mirror I can recall what I look like…the endearing characteristics and the substantiation of gravity. I know what I look like but I will still look in my car window as I climb in. I will still peak at myself when I adjust my mirrors. I will inconspicuously steal a glance of my reflection off of a store window as I walk by. I am not sure if it is vanity, curiosity, or boredom that makes me want to see myself but I do.
I don’t think I am alone in this though. I think humanity is obsessed with things that show us our likeness. I walked through the mall a few weeks ago and there was one of those booths where you could have your face embossed on a shirt or a mug or something…I can’t remember exactly. There is a video camera pointed at the foot traffic with a monitor showing what the camera sees. Almost invariably, shoppers would at least give a passing glance to the camera. Some would stare; others would make faces or obscene gestures. Whether we are proud of our appearance or ashamed of it, we are obsessed with it.
I was riding in the car with my dad last week and he listens to an old preacher named J. Vernon McGee on his iPod whenever he is in his car. McGee was talking about the Law of God and how it is a mirror. He said that the commands of God are perfect in showing us our spiritual appearance before a Holy God. By looking at God’s commands we are made aware of our great inability to fulfill those commands. In other words, we are confronted with our sin when we read and hear scripture. This point cannot be understated. It is an act of God’s grace that would allow us to see our need for change.
But McGee went on to say that a mirror is incapable of changing what it reflects. It reflects the truth. If you look at your reflection and see a smudge of dirt on your face, the mirror cannot reach out and wipe it off. And we are foolish to think that by merely seeing our spiritual reflection, we are made Holy. The Law is wholly incapable of reconciling us to God and is powerless to give us eternal life. Only faith in the blood of a perfect sacrifice (Jesus) can save us. The blood of Jesus not only cleanses us and sets us apart as righteous, it heals our brokenness.
In a few days Christians around the world will celebrate and remember what Jesus did on the cross. He became our wretchedness so that, as Calvin put it, the Father could have his kids back. I pray that God would reveal to all of us the need for the blood of Jesus to save us. I pray that the love of God in Christ would wreck me again. I pray that as I look into the mirror of his Word, I would be driven back to the foot of the cross desperate for the forgiveness that only He can give.

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