LIBERTY

But he who looks into the perfect law of LIBERTY and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does  – James 1:25

Looking into the perfect Mirror – the Word of God – leads to LIBERTY, whereas the world’s mirrors result in Deception. Human beings tend to always portray themselves in a positive light; even those who may be travelling in the direction of hell. They only want to see their good sides. Hardly would one attend a funeral where the deceased person is considered lost. Looking into the casket, all we want to see is the image of the good person that they could have been, even if they never were. A mother and her son were sitting on the front row during a funeral. As the minister began to eulogize the departed, he told of how faithful the deceased man had been, to his church, his family and his God. He described the man as a hard worker, a loving father and a devoted husband. At this point the mother nudged her son and said, “Son, go see if that’s really your dad in the casket, or are we in the wrong place?”

People could have had the most abhorrent attitude and behaviour in the world against their fellow human beings; they might have had an absolute lack of faith, and their eyes set only on the fads and fashions of this world. All of their life might have been spent pursuing popularity, seeking after vanities, and doing whatever they wanted to apart from God’s will. But when they lie in the casket, all the world says is how ‘perfect’ they were, because they keep looking into the wrong mirrors. No one wants to think of someone they knew or loved in life being in the flames of hell, but the fact is that some of them might be! It doesn’t matter what other people see in your life; it’s what God sees that really matters. Only God can be the righteous Judge because He not only knows the outside reflection, but He sees right into our very hearts. Nothing is hid from Him.

We need to look into the only perfect mirror – the Word of God – to see the real person that we are. The Word presents the picture of our perfect Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose image we all must conform to: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a Mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Cor.3:18).

James tells us how to look in the Mirror: “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (Jam.1:23-25). Just listening to God’s Word without application is self-deception, but applying or obeying His Word after listening, results in the blessings of God following one through life. You are either a passive or a pro-active Christian in your response to God’s Word. Passivity is deception; proactivity is liberty!

You must always view yourself relative to the Image of Jesus Christ. Fix your focus on the perfect law of liberty found in God’s Word, to ensure that you have a well-balanced view of who you are in Him. Only His perfect mirror can give you a perfect picture, which will correctly reveal the flaws that require correcting in you. Then, the power of the Holy Spirit, the Blood of Jesus Christ, and the washing of the Word in your heart and life, will transform you into the Image of Jesus. Life can be narrowed down to two outcomes: either you will live life as a reflection of God or a shadow of this world.