The Mirror of Intentions

Do not merely listen to the word, and so decieve yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says 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.  James 1:22-24

Have you ever taken note of how many mirrors are in your house?  And, how we search for something to see our reflection, if there are no mirrors availalbe, car surface, windows, etc.  Why is it important for us to take a look at ourselves from time to time?  What would be the purpose of taking a look at ourselves, seeing something out of place and then doing nothing to correct it? 

As I listened to the Pray-as-you-go devotion this morning, the scripture of Luke 8:21 reminded me that there needs to be an intentionality about obedience to God's word.  As discussed in Mulholland's book, Shaped By the Word, Wesley's third guidline for approaching scripture is with a "single eye, to know the whole will of God, and a fixed resolution to do it.....an inner decision, down in the center of your being, that whatever God speaks into your life you are going to do." 

Not one of us (ladies) would look in a mirror and see lipstick on our teeth and not rub it off-there's an intentionality to using the mirror to correct.

Dear Lord, change my heart so that when I approach your living Word, I can see your direction for my life and intentionally make the corrections that will set me free to live the life that you created me to live.  Amen