We are mirrors. We are mirrors that reflect something of Christ. We gaze upon him, and as we do so some of his character, some of his attributes, some of his loveliness is reflected in us. The old author J.R. Miller once pondered this reality in a sweet little devotional. Take a few moments and appreciate what he says:
We look into a little puddle of water at night, and see the stars in it; or by day and see the blue sky, the passing clouds and the bright sun high in the heavens. So we look upon Christ in loving, adoring faith, and the glory shines down into our soul. Then our neighbors and friends about us look at us, see our character, watch our conduct, observe our disposition and temper and all the play of our life, and as they behold us they perceive the image of Christ in us! We are the mirrors, and in us men see the beauty of the Lord.
A little child was thinking about the unseen Christ to whom she prayed, and came to her mother with the question, “Is Jesus like anybody I know?” The question was reasonable one—it was one to which the child should have received the answer “Yes.” Every true disciple of Christ ought to be an answer—in some sense, at least—to the child’s inquiry. Every little one, ought to see Christ’s beauty mirrored in its mother’s face. Every Sunday-school teacher’s character, should reflect some tracings of the eternal Love on which the scholars may gaze. Whoever looks upon the life of any Christian, should see in it at once the reflection of the beauty of Christ.
Of course the mirroring never can be perfect. Muddy puddles give only dim reflections of the blue sky and the bright sun. Too often our lives are like muddy puddles. A broken mirror gives a very imperfect reflection of the face that looks into it.
Many times our lives are broken, shattered mirrors—and show only little fragments of the glory they are intended to reflect. If one holds the back of a mirror toward the sun, there will be in it no reflection of the orb of day; the mirror’s face must be turned toward the object whose image one wants to catch. If we would have Christ mirrored in our lives—we must turn and hold our faces always Christward. If we continue ever beholding the glory, gazing upon it, we shall be mirrors reflecting Him into whose face we gaze. Then those who look upon our lives will see in us a dim image at least—a little picture of Christ!