“He’s Still at Church”

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

Psalms 139:7-10

As many of you know, our Britton family is a rather large one. At last count, I believe there are over 80 of us. There is a story that one of my nieces, Stephanie, told me many years ago that I think of every now and then and laugh. After having 2 little girls, she had a little boy, Jude. Jude definitely added a new dimension to their lives. And they were finding out what some of us had already discovered; what a difference between raising little girls and little boys.

Steph always had a new “Jude” story, and I asked her if I could use one of her stories in the adventures of raising Jude in this devotional. She tells the following story about Jude when he was three:

“Last night I found a bunch of glitter in the toilet... I knew right away who the culprit was. I began to question him. He denied it and said he didn't know how it got there. I said, Jude, you need to tell the truth. I know you did it and so does Jesus...he saw you.’ He said, ‘no He didn't’ I said, ‘Oh yes he sure did!!’ He said, ‘No He didn't see me. He's still at church." 

Jesus is still at church. In Jude’s mind, Jesus couldn’t possibly have seen what he did because Jesus was limited to the church building. Now we all had a good laugh at Jude’s conclusion but if we were to be honest, don’t we sometimes act as though this was really true?

How about the way you act outside the church when you think no one sees? The places that you may go and think that God doesn’t, see? The people you hang around? The words that come out of your mouth? The attitude of your heart? The things that you listen to, watch, or play?

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

Proverbs 15:3

You may not say it with your mouth, but you live as though you believe that God can’t see or hear any of it because “He’s still at church.” And when you step back inside the church building, you put on the false façade of being holy as though God lives and sees you only in church, that you have Him fooled. Not so!

“The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.”

Psalms 94:11

I have a sign hanging in our home that says, “God is the head of this home, the unseen Guest at every meal, and the silent Listener to every conversation.” How true that is, not only in our home but everywhere. Have you ever seen a young child who thinks he is hiding if he covers his own eyes and he can’t see you? They don’t realize that just because they can’t see you, you can still see them. Aren’t we like that with God sometimes? We think if we can hide the truth good enough, God won’t notice.

“Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.”

Psalms 44:21

Let’s remember that God sees everything, He hears everything, and He even knows the deepest darkest parts of our hearts and minds. We can’t hide our true selves from an all-knowing and all-seeing God. So, if you think you are hiding things from God, you’re not! Maybe today we need to be reminded of that truth and start living accordingly. Let’s start living our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord every minute of every day.

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

Hebrews 4:13