A while back I was at the Barber Shop for my monthly haircut.  Typical of visits to a men’s barber shop the primary objective is to set quietly, let the barber do his or her job and leave, such was the case on this visit.  Also typical of a trip to the barber shop is the routine the barber goes through at the end of the haircut, after brushing off the cut hair, and just before telling you their done, they’ll turn your chair so that you see yourself in their mirror mounted on the wall behind you.  This allows you to see what they’ve done, and to hopefully get your approval.  To make sure you see the entire haircut they will also pass a mirror behind your head so that its reflection also shows in the mirror and you can make a judgment on the entire haircut, and not just the part you can see. 

This time, when that mirror passed behind me I could see a bald spot that has been developing on the back of my head for quite sometime – it was then I saw that even though I had forgotten it was there, indeed didn’t realize it still existed, that God had known all along.  God sees my bald spots, even those I can’t see.

James tells us in James 1:22-24 we are to do more than simply “listen to the word” we are to be doing something with it.  He tells us in these verses that to simply listen to the word and do nothing is “like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”  I realized that day at the Barber Shop that sometimes God has to be the one holding up the mirror.  That day to day we can get complacent with our walk, content to glance in the mirror and yet not really look.  Sometimes, too, I confess I’ll look in the mirror but not really see, because I don’t want to see the faults and shortcomings.  I don’t want to be held accountable or to know I fall short in certain areas.  Instead I’d like to walk in the strengths I perceive I have and not focus on the weaknesses – yet God knows each one of them.

I’ve come to realize that while God loves us in spite of our shortcomings, and that while my sins are covered in the blood of Christ, God does want me to continue to grow, continue to improve, and he does that through discipline and through holding up the mirror for us to see what needs attention.  Deuteronomy 8:5-6 tells us “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.  Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him.”

I’ve recommitted myself to observing God’s commands, to walking in his ways, and to being more attentive to those times when God holds up that mirror that I may truly see what He wants me to see so that I may change for the better.  My prayer this week is that you’ll do the same.  God loves each one of us as one of his precious children and He wants only the best for us – ask Him to hold up the mirror for you and praise Him when He does – He’s preparing you for working and living more abundantly in His Kingdom!

In Christ
Wes