Tuesday, 24 October 2023
DON'T FORGET WHAT SPECIES YOU ARE
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).
God's Word has been given to us to lead, guide, instruct and train us in the things of the Kingdom of God. But even more importantly, God gave us His Word to enable us see ourselves the way He sees us. That's because His Word is a mirror (2 Corinthians 3:18 ).
When you look into the mirror of God, you see the image that God has of you and what He thinks of you. He wants you to have and retain that exact image of yourself, so you can see who you are and act accordingly.
James 1:22-25 communicates the same important and instructive truth. It says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
It's quite enlightening that it doesn't say that the man who isn't a doer of the Word forgets "what he looked like." Rather, it says he forgets "what manner of man he was." In other words, he forgets the "kind" or "type" of man that he saw. God's mirror-His Word-doesn't only show you your appearance; it shows you your "kind" or "species." God's Word shows you that you're in God's class of being, and the life you have is the God-kind of life. Hallelujah! Your part is to keep looking steadfastly into God's mirror and not forget what you look like, who you are.
1 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The word "beholding" is translated from the Greek "katanoe" which means to consider attentively; to fix one's eyes or mind upon. As you consider attentively and fix your mind on the image of you that you see in God's Word, you're transformed into the same image of divine glory, beauty and excellence. Glory to God!
CONFESSION: I'm a new creation, a new species of being that never existed before-dead to the rudiments of the world! I'm constantly transformed into the same image of divine glory, beauty and excellence that I see in the Word. Blessed be God!
FURTHER STUDY:
2 Corinthians 5:17; James 1:18
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: 1 Timothy 6:1-21 & Jeremiah 15-16
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: John 7:20-31 & 2 Kings 11-12