2006-06-23 - No Secrets

There's no hiding from the Orkin_® man. My life has been so non-stop busy of late, that I sometimes forget to eat until 8 or 9 at night, I forget what day it is etc. So naturally I haven't had time to take care of those little details like cleaning baseboards etc. I did well to ensure that my husband had clean clothes to wear and dishes to use! (He does help out-surprises me sometimes. when I come home to clean clothes etc.!) But the Orkin_® man was stopping by one day this week, for our bi-monthly treatment for spiders, scorpions and other such nefarious characters that visit us in the "country." And there isn't a nook or cranny that he doesn't see, "up close and personal." There are no secrets from the Orkin_® man!

So the night preceding his visit, I was scurrying around, trying to catch up on a few cleaning tasks that have fallen by the wayside. And the thought came to me that the Orkin_® man's visit is a good analogy for our relationship with God. He knows what's in every nook and cranny of our lives.

God knows the selfish motives for the good deed we did today.

The grudges we harbor against someone who hurt us or angered us are visible to God.

He is aware of our indulgent fantasies, our "little white lies" and what goes on "behind closed doors," whether it's domestic violence, addictive behavior (which is notorious for secrets-that's a key clue a family is dealing with addiction - family secrets), hateful words or whatever.

We can hide our true selves from our friends, our coworkers - and to some extent, even our families. But we can't hide anything from God.

So when we pray, we may as well be bluntly honest - since God already knows anyway.

I once had a church friend (he moved away) who knew my heart so well that it was actually a little scary. He still loved me as a friend; his love was as unconditional as human love can be. But that love pales, compared to God's love for us. That's the good news. It may be startling to think about how transparent our lives and hearts are to our Heavenly Father. But the flip side is that even though He knows every sin we have committed or ever will, He loved us enough to provide for our salvation through Christ - and He continues to love us. He wants us to repent (see 1 John 1:9), but He loves us unconditionally.

That's not to say that he won't hold us accountable for our actions. There are conditions on blessings, but not on love for His children. (See the Prodigal Son for a parable that reflects God's love for his straying children.) Love that is conditional isn't true love. And as God's word says, He is love. Not the kind of "love" (a.k.a. lust or coveting) portrayed in some media presentations today. Rather, the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love.

Let's "get real" with God and ourselves.

Comments or Questions,
Jan

cfdevjan@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org