God's Moral Looking Glass
But whoso
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
James 1:25.
At Dusseldorf we
changed cars, [WRITTEN DURING A JOURNEY IN EUROPE.] and were obliged to wait
two hours in the depot. Here we had an opportunity to study human nature. The
ladies came in, changed their outer wraps, and then surveyed themselves on
every side, to see that their dress was faultless. Then extra touches of powder
must be put upon their faces. Long they lingered before the mirror in order to
arrange their outward apparel to their satisfaction for the purpose of
appearing their best when looked upon by human eyes. I thought of the law of
God, the great moral looking glass into which the sinner is to look to discover
the defects of his character. If all would study the law of God--the moral
standard of character--as diligently and critically as many do their outward
appearance by means of the looking glass, with a purpose to correct and reform every
defect of character, what transformations would most assuredly take place in
them. "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto
a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was"
(James 1:23, 24)....
There are many
who view themselves as defective in character when they look into God's moral
mirror, His law, but they have heard so much of "All you have to do is to
believe" ... that after venturing to look into the mirror they straightway
go from it retaining all their defects, with the words on their lips,
"Jesus has done it all." These are represented by the figure that
James has marked out--the man beholding himself and going away and forgetting
what manner of man he was.... Faith and works are the two oars that must be
used to urge the bark against the current of worldliness, pride, and vanity;
and if these are not used, the boat will drift with the current downward to perdition.
God help us to take care of the inward adorning, to set the heart in order as
carefully as we arrange the outward apparel.
From That I May Know Him - Page 295
