As Queen Elizabeth the First grew old, her wrinkles were deep and many. It is reported that an unfortunate Master of the Mint incurred disgrace by casting a too–faithful likeness of her on the shilling of the day. The offending die was broken, and only one mutilated specimen is now in existence. The Queen’s maids of honour took the hint and from then on were very careful that no mirror should come into Her Majesty’s hands. Indeed, it is said that Elizabeth had not the heart to look herself in the face for the last twenty years of her life.
Now as a glass mirror exposes all the wrinkles and dirt that may be on a face, so the Word of God exposes our sinful hearts. Reading the Bible shows us our sins. If we refuse to repent and change, we soon get tired of seeing our dirty faces in God’s mirror —so we stop looking in the mirror. Many a Bible is thus cast aside, and left to gather dust on the shelf. How foolish! How much better to see the dirt, confess it and be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb! If like David we cry out to God “Wash me fully from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin”. (Ps. 51: 2), then God will surely answer “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1: 18).
