Have you looked in a mirror lately? Just because I was curious, I did a quick Google search: One study shows that women look in the mirror (or a smartphone’s reverse camera) eight times a day on average. I did not find a statistic for men so I’ll leave that alone, but the bottom line is that this probably made you want to look at yourself, if you haven’t yet.

I ask that question, because I wanted to show how obsessed we are with the way we look. However, when we look in a mirror we only see the physical, but what about the spiritual?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

It’s hard to think back to the day that I realized I was a sinner and needed Jesus as my Savior, because of the age I was when I made that decision. But I do not believe if I had looked in a mirror that I would see a halo the day after. I do believe that the old had passed away and that I was made new in that instant. And on top of that, as I live my life as a Jesus-follower, I am constantly reshaped to be more like Him. But this does make me ask myself, “How reliable is that mirror?”

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. – 1 Corinthians 13:12

We cannot see the full picture of what God is doing in our life or even understand it. Sometimes we pray for doors to be closed if it is not God’s will, then question Him when it is closed (I may be talking from firsthand experience here). But the truth is, God created us, He re-created us, and He continues to re-create us. I think He knows what we really need, when we really need it, and will take care of us.

Richard Jacobs
Worship Pastor