07/02/2021
In every moment of trouble, every time of temptation, every joyous shout, or as we utter a single word of prayer. God is with us, sees us, and helps us. This is so reassuring, and we thank Him for looking after us through our days and nights, but it is also unsettling for us, the sinner, when we find ourselves naked and exposed before Him, knowing He has seen us in all we do, and that He judges us.
“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Hebrews 4:13 ESV
When I was a boy almost everyone smoked cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, but even as common as this practice was, there was also a sense that it really wasn’t good for us, so as a rule children were forbidden to smoke tobacco. Smoking for kids was always a temptation though, and even Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn succumbed to its allure as they made pipes and used tobacco in Mark Twain’s novels that bore their names. Yet, although it looked so grown up and temptingly adventurous, children were forbidden to smoke until they became adults.
It was with this understanding and knowledge that I took a pack of cigarettes from my parents’ bedroom, and slipped off into the woods where I met my friends to become a version of Tom Sawyer, imitate Huck Finn, and smoke the forbidden tobacco. We were acting like Mark Twain’s bad boys as we decided to ignore the rules, and by doing so in the woods we felt safe because our parents couldn’t see us. So we smoked, our heads reeled from the effects of the nicotine, and our stomach’s became upset to the verge of vomiting. We felt like we were in the Deep South, living out a dangerous adventure along the banks of the Mississippi River. But, even bad boys have to go home, and when I walked into my mother’s kitchen she immediately smelled the smoke on me, and I was sent to my room to await my father’s arrival… and my certain punishment. I should have known better, because after all, this is was perfectly biblical, and something I was taught every Sunday…
“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.”
Numbers 32:23 ESV
Unlike my mother who had to smell the after effects of my misbehavior, my cigarette smoking, God sits there in the woods with us, sees us as we open our pack of sin, watches us as we light each cigarette, and shakes His head in disappointment as we take each puff from it. In fact, He was there when the plan was first conceived, He watched as we stole into our parent’s bedrooms, and knew that the contraband had been hidden in the waistband of our shorts as we slipped off to our hiding places.
As our opening verse tells us, we are never hidden from His sight… and yet we fool ourselves, we close our eyes so that they will not meet His, we shamefully cover ourselves with leaves, and then we sin as if it were being done in secret. Each of us has done something similar to this during our lives, and all of us like to think that we are alone in our nakedness when we do so, but in reality God is always there with us.
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”
Proverbs 15:3 ESV
So if we will take off our blinders, and know that in each moment of temptation that God is there with us, then we can ask Him for the help and strength we need to escape its enticement. The scriptures we need will be revealed to us by His Holy Spirit, and we will find ourselves armed against our lifelong adversary… Satan, and the present lie he is touting to lead us into sin.
Are we ready to let our eyes meet the eyes of God, and Jesus Christ? Are we ready to face the truth… that the forest is never thick enough, or deep enough, or dark enough, to hide the sins we commit there?
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for helping us to understand that you are with us always, and see our every move. Thank you for providing us an escape from every temptation, and leading us to it in our prayers. Thank you for the temptation of Christ, and for showing us, through Him, the way to combat temptation with your Word… it is our armor, shield, and a weapon against all evil and temptation, that comes against us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who sees us always, and never sleeps, or loses sight of us. Praised be your name for each temptation we resist by remembering that you are there with us. Merciful are you who whispers in our ear, and speaks to our heart when Satan is concocting his lies, and attempting to lure us away from you. Show us our nakedness Lord, and take away the shame of it when we are standing before you. Wash us clean from head to toe leaving nothing covered and untouched by the saving grace of Christ’s precious blood. Find us too be worthy Father, and seat us pure, and clean, at your table forever. See only the light of Jesus in us, and let no sin so much as cast its false shadow across us. Keep us in the glow of your glory, and righteousness for all eternity.
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV
Rich Forbes