Reflecting Pool
If you haven’t heard much about the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., you’ve probably been living under a rock somewhere.
I’ve stood beside the Reflecting Pool before. I’ve taken in the view, snapped the pictures, and moved on. But until recently, I had never stopped to think much about its purpose.
The Reflecting Pool sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Completed in 1923, it stretches more than 2,000 feet down the center of the National Mall.
What caught my attention wasn’t its size or its history.
It was its purpose.
The Reflecting Pool was never built to be the star of the show. It exists to reflect something greater than itself.
The more polluted the water becomes, the less it can fulfill that purpose. The reflection grows distorted, not because the monument has changed, but because the water has.
The more I thought about that, the more it sounded like us.
As Christians, we’re called to reflect Christ. That’s a simple idea, but not always an easy one. Over time, the water gets polluted.
Pride creeps in.
Bitterness settles to the bottom.
Anger, jealousy, selfish ambition, and old wounds we refuse to let go of all have a way of clouding the reflection.
What’s interesting is that Christ never changes. The One we’re reflecting remains exactly the same. When the reflection becomes distorted, the problem isn’t with Him.
Sometimes our version of Christianity is not a true reflection of Christ at all. It’s our own man-made image shining through. Over time we can become so attached to our traditions, preferences, opinions, and assumptions that we begin reflecting those things instead of the Savior we claim to follow.
I think that’s why David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
He understood that what people see on the outside is often determined by what’s happening on the inside.
The purpose never changed.
The reflection did.
Maybe that’s a question worth asking from time to time.
If someone looked closely at my life, how much of Jesus would they see?
And how much of me?
Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”
#FirstLight #Faith #ChristianLiving #Psalm5110 #Reflection #SpiritualGrowth #JesusChrist