What a title! What a request!
Just stay with me and don't write me off as perverted.
What I ask of you, I am also asking of myself.
Lock yourself in your bedroom or bathroom alone, whichever one has a nice size mirror.
First, take a good look at yourself with your garments on.
Who are you? What do you look like?
Are you a well dressed business man? A sophisticated lady?
Maybe a rugged looking cowboy or apron clad housewife?
Maybe a hip teenager in the latest style?
or maybe a "religious" looking being?
Who are you? According to your dress?
"now who am I?"
Is your identification changing much?
Keep going! Another piece and another until you are naked.
Take down your hair, wipe off the make-up, remove the jewelry.
You have now removed all of your external identification and stand naked before the mirrored image.
There is nothing to hide behind. You are exposed!
Some may be cringing, some may be proud, some may be remembering a day when the image was much more impressive. :) Or depressing.
But, hang on.... we aren't finished.
I want you to go further.
Strip away your friends one by one, your family name, your church affiliation.
Strip away any titles that you hold - Professor, Pastor, Missionary, Dr., Counselor, etc..
Strip away your talents, your gifts
Is the image that has been stripped of all outward and social identification someone you are familiar with?
As we stand there before the mirror, we still have not seen who we really are as a person,
for the person we really are is still there hidden deep in the heart.
It is within the crevices of our inward being.
It is the part of us that nobody sees, but our Heavenly Father.
And this is the part that is the absolute most important to HIM!!!
We, as human beings, tend to make judgements of who is acceptable and who is not -who is righteous and who is not, but that line is almost always, ALWAYS based on the outward and social identification of a person. But God don't care about those things like He cares about our way down deep condition of our hearts, for that my dear friend, is who we really are! We can hide behind "legalistic" rules that are laid on us, we can think we are righteous because of how well we follow those "rules". We can dress ourselves all up, or down, we can attach titles to our names, we can perform just perfectly, we can speak fancy words, but all the while hidden beneath all that can be - envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, hatefulness, self-righteousness, lust and secret immorality, unfaithfulness, bitterness*.
Let's start digging and see what we find!
This self-examination can be a very painful process!
It requires us to become vulnerable, honest and humble.
It is much easier to hide and put on that beautiful front, while underneath is written across our bare chest - "warning - sin is lurking beneath the surface."
Strip away your friends one by one, your family name, your church affiliation.
Strip away any titles that you hold - Professor, Pastor, Missionary, Dr., Counselor, etc..
Strip away your talents, your gifts
Is the image that has been stripped of all outward and social identification someone you are familiar with?
As we stand there before the mirror, we still have not seen who we really are as a person,
for the person we really are is still there hidden deep in the heart.
It is within the crevices of our inward being.
It is the part of us that nobody sees, but our Heavenly Father.
And this is the part that is the absolute most important to HIM!!!
We, as human beings, tend to make judgements of who is acceptable and who is not -who is righteous and who is not, but that line is almost always, ALWAYS based on the outward and social identification of a person. But God don't care about those things like He cares about our way down deep condition of our hearts, for that my dear friend, is who we really are! We can hide behind "legalistic" rules that are laid on us, we can think we are righteous because of how well we follow those "rules". We can dress ourselves all up, or down, we can attach titles to our names, we can perform just perfectly, we can speak fancy words, but all the while hidden beneath all that can be - envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, hatefulness, self-righteousness, lust and secret immorality, unfaithfulness, bitterness*.
Let's start digging and see what we find!
This self-examination can be a very painful process!
It requires us to become vulnerable, honest and humble.
It is much easier to hide and put on that beautiful front, while underneath is written across our bare chest - "warning - sin is lurking beneath the surface."
We can fool our fellowman, but we cannot and will not fool the all knowing One!
Stop pretending, get real, get naked and get radical about cleaning out those deep crevices that have been hidden beneath our facade.
After standing in front of our own mirror naked, slowly and carefully start to get dressed. Put on a layer of repentance, add a layer of forgiveness, followed layer by layer of His grace, mercy, wisdom, righteousness & truth. Top it off with an outer garment of obedience. May the words upon our chests fade into the words,
"Blameless from the inside out".
My face is in the dust!!!
I don't care at all for the image reflected back to me from that shiny, revealing mirror!
The words on my chest read "Warning!"
I am not happy with that!
But, that is the whole reason Jesus willingly went to the cross!
For me, for you - that the word "Warning!" can be replaced with "Blameless"
and the reflection looking back at us from that mirror can be a reflection of HIM
and not ourselves!!!
Until next time...........
Stop pretending, get real, get naked and get radical about cleaning out those deep crevices that have been hidden beneath our facade.
After standing in front of our own mirror naked, slowly and carefully start to get dressed. Put on a layer of repentance, add a layer of forgiveness, followed layer by layer of His grace, mercy, wisdom, righteousness & truth. Top it off with an outer garment of obedience. May the words upon our chests fade into the words,
"Blameless from the inside out".
My face is in the dust!!!
I don't care at all for the image reflected back to me from that shiny, revealing mirror!
The words on my chest read "Warning!"
I am not happy with that!
But, that is the whole reason Jesus willingly went to the cross!
For me, for you - that the word "Warning!" can be replaced with "Blameless"
and the reflection looking back at us from that mirror can be a reflection of HIM
and not ourselves!!!
* - Galatians 5:19-21
Until next time...........
