Have I "forgotten what I look like"?

Hello everyone,

In addition to my very long reply to the last post, I thought I'd add a few more thoughts here.

Verse 22-25: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive 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. But a man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this [look intently], not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it -- he will be blessed in what he does. "

I have to say that this is one of the things I often neglect to do, to "look intently." During the past year, I have been reading to read....but not often reading to "seek" or to "find". I think of what God said to Daniel, "Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." (Daniel 10:12). Have I "set my mind to gain understanding?" Or am I just reading because it's the "Christian thing to do"? Am I asking the Holy Spirit to teach me to obey and follow all His decrees? It's when we seek with all our heart, and in humility, that God will hear our words and prayers and "come in response to them."

I find the phrase "forgets what he looks like" so interesting. James is comparing the law (Torah) of God to a mirror. If I look into the mirror in my bathroom, who do I see? Myself, clearly. If we look into the law (mirror), what should we see?? A reflection of ourselves! Because Jesus was the Word made flesh, when we look intently into the Torah (which, for James and his contemporaries meant the law and the prophets -- the "OT" by our terms) we should see Jesus -- but moreover, we should also see a picture of ourselves, as His Word has now been written on our hearts and we are hidden in the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And so more and more, as we endure and mature, and as we seek to find Him and know Him, the "perfect law that gives freedom" should become a reflection of our own life, walk and faith. The Word should be "what we look like," "our reflection" so to speak. We should recognize ourselves in it, rather than it seeming foreign, like a strange face staring at us from the mirror. But if we look into the mirror, and go away and continue in the deeds of the flesh, THAT is when we have forgotten what we look like in Messiah.

What does this mean though? How do we do this? In Philippians 3:15, the writer makes a telling statement:"Only let us live up to what we have already attained." Messiah has already attained for us the righteousness of the law, by the shedding of His blood. We are now called to walk in this righteousness...but HOW? Trying in our own strength so often results in failure and discouragement. I think one of the keys is just that: realizing our identity, remembering "what I look like" when I gaze into that mirror. Moreover, if we are seeking to find Jesus, we will know what HE looks like, what HE says about us, and who HE is. We won't be confused about His identity, which will make us less confused about our own. If we know that He is the King, He is the Messiah, He is the righteousness of God....and that I am a child of the King, I have been saved by His blood alone, and that I am now hidden in Him....will this not transform our thinking and our entire man (mind, will, emotions)? I once heard some kind of a story that detailed a bratty little kid that was actually a prince (he did not know it), but didn't start acting like a prince until he realized who he was. He already had the identity, he just now had to live it out. I think this is very appropriate.

Obviously, no amount of human striving or determination can cause us to obey the law perfectly, for the letter of the law kills. So I think, practically, that one of the ways we can look "intently" into the law is to read it humbly, realizing our frailty, with the intention of discovering Messiah and His righteousness in it, continually asking the Holy Spirit to write His laws upon our hearts and to conform us into His image. We know we cannot do it on our own, therefore we must trust in His work in us. Another verse that comes to mind is from Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law." In other words, if there is no revelation of the righteousness and perfection of Messiah in the law, we will cast it off as a restraint and go our own fleshly way. But if we seek "intently" to discover the shadows of Messiah and his righteousness permeating every word of the law, we will delight in it and it will transform us...and we will be blessed. We become like that who we behold (just like we tend to mimic the people we spend the most time with). It's really that whole "be transformed by the renewing of your mind" thing. The more we gaze at Him in that mirror, the more we extol His virtues, the more we lean on His Word of truth concerning our condition before the Father....the more our actions and lives will be transformed, no longer conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12).

I love Psalm 119 - the longest Psalm in the entire book, extolling the Lord's perfect law....hundreds and hundreds of years before Messiah was revealed, and before James wrote his letter. "Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes, and seek him with all their heart." (Psalm 119:1-2). Doesn't that mirror James' statement exactly? They who seek him [not their own righteousness by being a "rule/law abider"] with all their heart shall be blessed.... I think of what Jesus said when he said to the Pharisees that they searched the scriptures diligently for they thought that in THEM (the letter) they would find life, but they refused to come to HIM (the spirit) who could give life.

Also, I think that another part of that mirror image is that when we look into the "Old Testament" scriptures, we see how completely unrighteous we are according to His perfect Holy law, UNTIL we come to HIM for life and righteousness. It should more than ever make us run to Him, leaning on His strength, for "the sacrifices of God are a broken heart and a contrite spirit." The goal of the law was to point to righteousness in Messiah.

I pray with David, that God would "Open our eyes to see the wonderful things in [his] law."

Sorry for the dissertation! Hopefully that made some kind of sense. It's been a long day, and now I need to go and do some serious repenting for my attitudes and actions from today. I need to spend some time "gazing into the mirror". Lord, have mercy on me, according to your most holy and life-giving Word.

-Melissa