The Mirror of Conviction

This past Sunday as I approached the pulpit and unfolded my sermon notes, I no more than spoke the title of the message God had laid on my heart when the Spirit prodded me to go down an unexpected trail. It wasn't written in my notes nor had it even been planned. However it was a word the church needed to receive. I won't go into what was said because it was an intimate word for those who were present but I do want to share something interesting about how folks choose to handle truth.

God's word speaks of itself as a mirror. I believe, when we take the time to gaze into the scripture, that it has the power to make us see us as we really are. It has the power to convict us and help us recognize where we are lacking in our own spiritual lives. Sadly enough, most of the body never takes the time to pick up a Bible much less read and study it and therefore God uses the spoken word to hurl those arrows of reproof.

Now that I've set it up... here's what I'm wanting to say. When we hear a word that causes conviction we can choose to handle it in one of two ways; we'll either admit that we've been pegged and take our medicine or we'll get mad at the one who spoke the truth. When I went down, what some would call, a rabbit trail on Sunday morning there was no particular person in mind... honestly. God laid it on my heart and I laid it on the table. When I write a blog and speak truth from which I feel the body could benefit if it were received... I'm not writing about any one individual. Are there church people in my life who willingly make themselves the poster children for how not to live the Christian life? Absolutely, but I'm not so ignorant as to think they are the only ones who behave in such a way.

To conclude let me say... in the event that you read or hear words that dot you between the eyes and make you mad but cannot Biblically refute them... don't get upset at anybody except the one you're looking at in the mirror. If you feel it's been said or written with only you in mind you are obviously guilty. You know the old saying... If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the only one who yelps is the dog who got hit!