Discipleship

God Sees My Bald SpotDiscussion

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 sit 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 that the barber goes through at the end of the haircut. After brushing off the cut hair, and just before telling you that they are done, they will 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 without an extra mirror.

Bald Spot

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. Then it hit me that even though I had forgotten that it was there, truly not cognizant that it still existed, I realized that God sees it all all the time. God sees my bald spots, even those that I am unable to see.

James tells us in James 1:22-24 that 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; and 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 that I will look in the mirror but not really see, because I don’t want to see, my faults and shortcomings. I don’t want to be held accountable or to know that I fall short in certain areas. Instead I would like to walk in confidence of the strengths I perceive that I have, and not focus on the weaknesses -– yet God knows each one of them.

While our sins are covered in the blood of Christ, and God loves us in spite of our shortcomings, I have come to realize that God wants us to continue to grow, to continue to improve; and He show us this through discipline and through holding up the mirror for us to see areas that need 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 have 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; praying that I may truly see what He wants me to see, so that I may change for the better. My prayer is that you will 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; because He is preparing you for working and living more abundantly in His Kingdom!

In Christ,

Wes

February 14, 2010

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