Mirror

"Therefore, get rid of all unclean thoughts, and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. But demonstrate that you are doers of the Word, not just those who passively hear, and don't change, thus deceiving themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; but once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what he looks like. But the man who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and keeps on looking, not being one who looks and then forgets, but whose actions are changed, this man will be blessed in what he does" James 1:21-25

Recently there have been reports of pastors and teachers who have fallen away from the faith. These are men who have blessed so many souls, helping them understand what the Bible teaches, and giving direction on how we should live. But much to our surprise, when faced with temptation, so many times they fall away. How is this possible? Didn't they know what they were doing was wrong? 

I believe this is what James is teaching us in this passage. There is quite a difference between knowing the Word with our mind, and receiving the Word ingrafted into our hearts. I remember the testimony of a man who was a seminary professor. He had studied the Bible all his life, and could understand the original languages in which the Bible had been written. He had all the academic degrees a man could get, but he was not born again. He knew well what the Bible said, but he only knew this academically. But through a crisis in his life, he turned his heart to the Word, and he was saved. The next time he read the Bible, he said it was as if he had never read it before. The words on the pages became like fire, and his heart was never the same. 

James compares the Word to a mirror. I believe that everything God wants us to know about Him can be found there.  However, when we look into the mirror, we may only see the surface image, when there is so much more to see. This is only a quick glance. Very easy to forget what we just read. He encourages us instead to look intently. Stay awhile. Don't rush off. Let the Word speak to our heart. That is when we are changed from "Glory to Glory" as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Having so meditated on the Word, it becomes ingrafted in our hearts, and we are no longer hearers only, but doers of the Word.