LOOK at the two little birds viewing themselves reflected in the water. It may be they think they see two other birds, but we know they are mistaken.
There is another kind of a mistake that many people make when they look at bad people; they forget they have a reflection of their own hearts in such, for God’s Word says, “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.” (Prov. 27:1919As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. (Proverbs 27:19).) Have you, dear reader, remembered that your heart is just as bad as one who has permitted the evil to be manifested by wicked works? Perhaps you say, “I do not commit such bad things as others do.” That may be true; you may be able to look back and say, “I never stole anything, I never told a lie, I never used a bad word, I never disobeyed my mother,” and so on, but God’s Word lets us know that every evil thing is in our hearts, so our hearts are all the same, whether we have manifested the evil that is in them or not. We are responsible not to let out the evil; if we did we would be adding sin to sin.
Some may say, “What is to be done, seeing we have such bad hearts? For no sin, even in thought, can be permitted in God’s holy presence.” Would feeling sorry for our sins ever put them away before God? Would being careful that we did not commit the sins, make our hearts any better in God’s sight? We must answer to these questions, No. Nothing that we could do would ever make us one whit better, or fit for God. Banishment from God’s presence is what our state called for, but this is why Jesus, the holy One of God, came down here and became like one of us, apart from sin. He went down under the penalty of all our sins, and was forsaken of God on Calvary’s cross, and rose triumphant out of it all, because He was holy, so that all who would put their trust in Him could be accepted by God.
ML 12/09/1917