In my career as a business consultant I only had one person to look at when considering success and failure. I would get up in the morning and look at the CEO in the mirror and either see him smiling or frowning. My response would be to either pat him on the back in congratulation or grind my teeth in frustration as I considered firing him for his failure. There was not another option because The Mirror Doesn’t Lie!
The other morning I was once again reminded of a lesson I learned a long time ago. As I was moving steadily ahead on the treadmill a song came through my ear buds that made me smile as I reflected on that time the Lord took me to the woodshed and straightened out my thinking with these words … The Mirror Lies!
I didn’t know just what to say
When his Spirit convicted my soul
It took me by surprise, I thought I was okay
Until I heard of how God gave his own
So I answered his still, quiet, beckoning voice
Now I’m not the man I was before
I can see what I was and it makes me rejoice
To know that I’m not that way anymore *
It started by His taking me to Paul’s letter to the Romans and the verse that from that day forward has become my life’s verse, the verse you have heard me refer to time and time again…
Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ESV
The mirror reflected an image that changed from day-to-day, all dependent upon what was going on in my life at that time. How I viewed myself and where I was on the road of life. Oh, I was born again, I was saved and understood my relationship with the Lord… or so I thought. But what I didn’t understand was …
I’ve been washed clean
I’m just like him
There’s no sinful stain
Now I’m pure within
His blood has paid
The debt for me
I’m not longer lost
I’ve been washed clean
What a powerful and sobering thought … I’m just like Him, I’ve been washed clean. He has given me everything, all that He is, all that I will ever need. But the enemy, my old nature, continued to place itself as the judge and jury every morning as I replayed my yesterday in the reflection in that mirror. I would lose sight of the fact that Now I’m not the man I was before, I can see what I was and it makes me rejoice to know that I’m not that way any more.
Slowly, over time, the Holy Spirit continually reminded me that I am not that man in the mirror. Yesterday is gone and today is a fresh start. Yesterday’s hero or yesterday’s goat is just that … yesterday’s. No matter what my flesh sees, my spirit sees Jesus because of His mercy and grace. Each new day resets the image in the mirror and I have to choose who I see.
The bottom line … the Mirror Lies … If You Let It!
* I’ve been washed clean – Greater Vision