mirror2I got up sleepy-eyed, before dawn, and began shaving in our dimly lit bathroom. Groggily, I made a few swipes with the razor and then began splashing my face with water. After rinsing off I noticed an unseemly spot on my neck that just didn’t seem to want to come clean. No matter how hard I scrubbed, the spot remained. And then as I moved slightly, I noticed that the spot didn’t move with me. It was still there…on the mirror, where it had been all along.

I wiped the mirror with my washrag and before long the spot was removed. I also inserted two new bulbs above the mirror. As I screwed in the second bulb I noticed something else. I had my shirt on inside-out! What a difference a clean mirror and some extra light made!

There was really nothing wrong with the mirror. It was a new mirror. Its problem was due to the fact that I had been careless and had not changed the light bulbs earlier. Because of this a spot of dirt had gotten on the mirror and remained undetected until I was washing my face. But after some light and a few good swipes with a rag, the mirror’s true resiliency shone, just as it had when it came from the store.

Spiritual Sight

All too often the way we view God’s law is tainted. Perhaps our spiritual sight has become clouded with the cares of this world or maybe the allurement of sin. Because of this we don’t see ourselves as we really are. Though we may be wearing our physical clothes correctly, we are filthy and naked in a spiritual sense. Remember Jesus’ words to John:

“For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17).

The closer we come to Jesus, the more we see our defects and sinfulness, our inability to keep God’s commandments. We have allowed sin to dirty the mirror and without Christ’s cleansing washrag, we will stay “filthy and wretched.” Praise God, we serve a Savior who is willing to come in and cleanse the sin out of our lives!