Most people are familiar with a quote from the story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that says, “Mirror, Mirror on the all, who’s the fairest of them all?”  A high school student once read about a clever experiment that was published in 1970 that showed that chimpanzees, but not monkeys, could recognize themselves in mirrors.  A famous self-recognition test was dreamed up in the 1960’s by Gordon Gallup, Jr., who attempted to find out if other creatures could recognize themselves in mirrors.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible speak about mirrors in James 1 when making reference to hearing the Word of God but not doing what it says.  The apostle James, says that someone who hears the Word but fails to obey it is like a person looking in a mirror.  He says that such a person sees himself, but walks away from mirror and soon forgets what he saw.  The point James is trying to make is that this person is failing to recognize that the Word of God is revealing some kind of flaw in his life that needs to be addressed.  James identifies the Word of God as the perfect law of liberty, and says that people need to follow its instructions, to not be forgetful of what it says, but to do what it says.  He promises that people who do so will be blessed for doing what the Word of God says to do. 

        In the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 7, Jesus speaks about people noticing what He calls a mote in the eye of others, but failing to think about a beam being in their own eyes.  A mote was simply a tiny speck as opposed to a beam, which was much larger in size and much easier to see.  Jesus speaks about people wanting to remove the mote from the eyes of others when there is a beam in their own eyes.  He says that people should remove the beam from their own eyes before trying to remove a mote from the eyes of others.  He advises them to remove the beam from their own eyes so they could more clearly see to remove the mote from the eyes of others. 

Later in Matthew 7, Jesus speaks about people who hear His words and obey them being like a wise man who built a house on a solid rock foundation.  He says that when rain fell and created a flood, and the winds blew against the house, it stood firmly.  Let’s be sure to pay attention to what the Word of God reveals to us when we look inside its covers.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.