Have you ever thought about what a mirror does? I know it may seem an odd question. But think about it for just a moment. A mirror stands or hangs in a particular location and simply reflects that which is placed in front of it. The mirror is not a moral agent so it has no processing to do nor does it have any thoughts as to what it may or may not reflect. It simply is in a position to reveal whatever is placed in its path. If a beautiful object is placed in front of the mirror then the mirror reflects that. If something hideous is placed in front of the mirror of course it will reflect that. We all are very aware of how a mirror works.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:13
Now, the amount of light around the mirror will determine how vivid the image that is reflected back is seen. If there is little light present the image is still there it is just not very bright and hard to see; to use words that the apostle Paul used we see in a mirror dimly at times. Now I ask this question and hope you will reflect on it this Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified. If an image is present but unseen does it really matter that the image is there at all? Or in other words, what does it matter if you are standing in front of a mirror and it is pitch black? The image reflected back can neither be seen by you or anyone else.
I know for me personally I strive to be a mirror. I am a moral agent created in the image of God how can I be compared to a mirror which neither thinks nor cares? Metaphorically speaking I mean that part of a mirror that takes what image is on me and simply reflects it back to those around me. I want to take that which the Holy Spirit has given me and not qualify it, not rank it, nor decipher who should or should not see it. I want to simply walk in the Spirit of reflection. I want that image of Christ that has been pressed upon me to simply be a reflection for all to see. It is my daily dying to self that allows the amount of light to illuminate that reflection. For if I choose not to crucify my flesh daily then the amount of reflection that is seen by others is that which is seen dimly.
So on this Good Friday I simply charge all of us to reflect on both mentally and physically that which Christ choose willingly to do. He chose to reflect the will of the Father by laying down His life. Jesus never once tried to alter the image that the Father was providing, but Jesus was simply a mirror. He reflected in every way that which the Father gave Him. With the brightest light known to man He projected the image of Love that all may partake. What will you do with that image? Will you reflect it and let others see it or will you alter the image before you project it? Or perhaps there are those that do not believe and therefore decide the image has no effect because like a mirror in a dark room, if there is no light to illuminate what is standing in front of the mirror, there might as well not be a mirror.
If you do not know Christ He wants to provide the light that will allow you to see the image of the beauty that is captured only in the holiness and splendor of a bloody and beaten Lord. That image bears all the light a mirror would ever need. Come to Him and rest in this final thought.
“He drained the cup of God’s wrath bone dry, leaving not a drop for us to drink.” – Richard Allen Bodey
