When I was little I had this thought that everything I thought, said or did was being recorded. I kept on thinking that there were these two little men with a film camera following me wherever I went documenting my life inside out.
This constant thought actually kept me from getting into too much trouble, acting as an ever present awareness that what I did and thought mattered, and I was going to have to give an account for my life at some point in the future.
Nobody really said much as I was growing up about accountability, or that “God is watching you” that I can remember but I knew that I was not alone either way.
As an adult I chuckle now at my two little cameramen running about recording my life story, but perhaps it wasn’t so far from the truth, for the bible actually says, “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God. “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12)
Maybe if we all had a greater awareness of God knowing our every thought and action it would help us to think twice before we acted, spoke or allowed wrong thinking to remain unchecked for too long in our hearts and minds, and especially when no one else is looking.
Often the question we would benefit from asking ourselves is “who are we when we think no one is watching”? That’s not necessarily the social media persona that everyone likes to portray of their lives on Facebook etc; of the places we go, the food, clothes, destinations or perfect family images we post, or the viewpoints and media presence many of us are guilty of consuming from the world’s celebrities. Hopefully we all know that these things are often manufactured to be what we want people to think about us and are usually not a real portrayal of anything.
What I am talking about is the real us – who we are when we think it doesn’t matter; when we are at home, with our family or alone. What we are reading, watching, thinking and how do we behave with those around us in our everyday lives? Because that is actually who we are, and sometimes that is very different from what we might publically portray or even want to be.
But God knows us, and we will all have to eventually give an account to Him. He says, “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind.” (Jeremiah 17:10)
Psalm 139:1-5 says, Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them.
You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it. You are all around me—in front and in back—and have put your hand on me.”
Today examine your own heart and be honest about who you are when no one else is looking. God knows so we aren’t fooling Him. But He also neither condemns nor withdraws His love from us when we are less than who we ought to be. He simply says, “You need me, and I’m here to love and forgive you for any failings, and to fill with you with all the love, strength, patience, self control and goodness you need to be the person I have made you to be.” “Come and learn from me, and I will give you rest and strength for the road ahead.” (Matthew 11:28; Isaiah 40:29)
Prayer: Lord I need you. Forgive me where I have messed up, and please fill me with your love, hope and strength today so that I can be the person you made me to be, even when no one else is looking. In Jesus name Amen.
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28)
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (Isaiah 40:29)