Only a Reflection

A car drives up to the full-service pump at a gas station. The attendant fuels the car and washes the windshield. When the attendant walks up to the car to receive payment, the man comments, “Hey, my windshield is still dirty, can you clean it again?” The man’s wife looks and the windshield is fine. She says to her husband, “Look at me.” As he does, she takes off his glasses and cleans them and hands them back. He puts them back on and sees that the windshield is spotless. In the Bible we read these words, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face…” (I Cor. 13:12) The point is to remind us that our perspectives and understanding are limited. With such a reminder we are called not to give up in frustration but to be intensely committed to seeking God’s face. Such terminology as “seeking God’s face” can be rather complicated when referring to One such as God, who is so vastly greater than any of us. But simply put, it calls us to be sure that we live our lives never forgetting God as a first priority. The presence of God can be drowned out by a million different distractions, agendas, fears, worries, doubts or goals. Even good things can cause us to divert our attention from the greatest One of all. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian pastor who died standing up for his faith in Nazi Germany, wrote about this mistake people make of not remaining focused on living for the glory of God. “God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality … Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.” When God is forgotten, clear perspective is lost. I encourage you to consider more deeply what it means to remember God and stay focused on God as an essential priority of daily life. Doing this will raise the bar on our discipleship.