When the wind is still and the weather is just right, it makes for a beautiful picture at Sandy Creek. The still water made a perfect reflecting pool for the trees on either side and the fog all around. I won’t pretend enough to know the science behind how all that works, but if you look at either side it’s easy to see the reflection. Sometimes the wind is blowing too much, or the water is flowing too fast, and the reflection gets harder to see. Even when its perfectly still, the image is just a little bit distorted.
This is often the way the life of a Christian works too. Our lives are to be a reflection of God, but because of sin and hardship in our lives our reflection is always a bit off. Even more, when the winds of tragedy blow or the currents of our lives run too fast it gets harder to see the reflection of God in us. Every person has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and so this image that we reflect is marred and imperfect. But when people look at our lives they should still see glimpses of the glory of God.
Thankfully, we do have a perfect representation of God on earth. Jesus is called the “image of the invisible God,” meaning that when we look at him we see what God is like. The time of Jesus on earth was a perfect representation of God, as He and the Father are one. When we look at Christ, the reflection of God is not marred by sin or disturbed by tragedy. We know exactly what God is like by looking at Christ. The love and compassion that Christ has for us is the same as the Father has. The holiness he lived with is the same that the Father has.
Our lives should be a reflection of Christ, but we will never do it perfectly. That doesn’t mean we should just give up. We should keep working, keep striving, keep putting sin to death in our hearts and minds. When others look at us they should see Christ in us, the hope of glory. This new year people will vow to make changes, be different, and take command of their lives. But for the Christian, our biggest goal of all in the new year should be to reflect Christ in all we do.
When I look at the reflection of the trees in the water, my eye is naturally drawn up to the actual trees themselves. In the same way when others look at us they should be drawn towards Christ and turn to see him in all his glory. Our lives are just a reflection, like the water is. But the actual thing is full of more wonder, more beauty, and more life than the reflection ever can be. Let’s make sure that this year we point people towards Christ, that when people look at us they see Him. We will not be perfect, but we can point to the one who is.