“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Let’s look at “Reflections In A Mirror”
One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother & said, "Mommy, there’s something my Sunday School teacher said that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?"
The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hands. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true, honey."
"But Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we accept Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the teacher said was true.
With a puzzled look on her face the little girl asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?"
That’s the point isn’t it? If we are Believers, when people see us, Jesus ought to show through - in our homes, our offices, our community and in every aspect of our lives.
Whether we realize it or not, that is exactly what He wants - to make Himself known to others through our lives.
We may be the only version of the Bible that some people will ever experience.
Now if that is ever going to happen, people must be able to see Jesus. But the eyes of so many people today have been clouded and polluted by the trappings of this world and the moral decay around us.
If they're going to see Jesus, they'll have to see Jesus in us. That's why Paul challenges us to reflect Jesus in our lives by being transformed into His likeness. We must look like Jesus.
What does it mean to look like Jesus? I’m sure you realize that I'm not talking about growing beards or wearing a certain kind of clothing. Instead, it means to be like Him, to imitate the character and attitudes of Jesus.
Let's pause for a moment and consider: What do people see when they look at us? Do they see us being generous in the same ways that Jesus was? Do they see us being genuine about our faith and our commitments?
Secondly, if our goal is to introduce people to Jesus, then we must begin to sound like Jesus. When people heard Jesus speak and teach, they were amazed.
Our task is to help make Jesus known by sounding like Him. In (Corinthians 4:12-13) the apostle Paul says, “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we answer kindly.”
Our vocabulary, our conversations, our prayers, our stories - must all echo His love, compassion and care. Our message must be a testimony of hope and change that encourages those who know us to want to know Jesus, too.
Did you know that there has been a lot of research seeking to determine just how much patients in the operating room, who are fully sedated, are aware of what is being said around them?
And like an anesthetized patient, people in this world who have not given their lives over to God are walking around with their God-created instincts, reflexes and morals impaired by the ‘spiritual drugs’ of our day.
But God has planted among such people voices to proclaim messages of spiritual recovery and healing. Who are these voices? We are.
Last of all, if we're ever going to introduce people to Him, then we must also act like Jesus. In John 13, we see our Lord wrapping Himself in a towel, washing the feet of His disciples, demonstrating the heart and actions of a servant.
We're called to act as He did - to teach them about God’s kingdom, serve people’s needs, love people with our hearts and hands, just as Jesus did. We are to bring people into God’s presence - to help them find healing and salvation in Him by pointing them to Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross.
Reflections Ministries / Calvin Wyatt / e-mail:cixmo@aol.com / Follow us on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn