“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”
CS Lewis
In James 1, it talks about the man who sees himself in a mirror and immediately forgets what he looks like when he walks away. It goes on to say that the Bible is that mirror for when we look continually into it, we won’t forget who we are and what we’re supposed to be doing. Most who preach this verse use it to remind us to be doers of the word — and I agree, we should be doers of the word — But I see this as a reflection (pun intended) of our humanity and how we lose focus when we are not continually seeing ourselves in the light of God’s Word. If we are not continually digging into the Word daily, if we don’t see our reflection by His light, we will lose sight of who we are in Christ and what we’re doing on this earth. Everything, all our daily actions, our thoughts, intentions, even what we think we are, must be seen through the light of His Word or we’re deceiving ourselves in one way or another.
Often we put ourselves down, believe the worst lies about ourselves, or get off on the wrong trail just because of what we allow in our thought life. If we allow ourselves to get derailed in false thought, we are that man who has forgotten his own reflection. It is only by daily abiding in His Word, renewing our mind DAILY, and making the effort and discipline to spend that precious time with our Savior, that we can keep that reflection of our true selves long enough to survive the day. …and it won’t stick long, we have to do it again the next day and every day until that version of ourselves we hold in mind is the reality we experience when we enter eternity. How will we know what is true? How can we know which thoughts are wrong? We won’t know unless we spend time reading the truth each day. I would encourage you to spend time each day seeing your reflection in God’s Word and drawing near to Him. God has good plans for you!
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25