Sunday 22 Jul 2012

Sunday Reading: Psalm 53:1-6

Key Verse: Psalm 53:1
1  The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

Devotion:
If you thought that there was nobody around that would punish you for doing anything wrong, would you be tempted to go ahead and do something wrong? If we are all going to be honest then the answer would probably be yes – after all, if we are never going to get into trouble for doing wrong, what is there to stop us at all?

So it is little wonder then that people turn round and say that they can do what they like – or at least they want to be able to say that just so they don’t get into trouble! And what excuse are they going to use? “I didn’t know” or “there is nobody around to see me” or “nobody is in charge”… are but a few excuses that will come out of the woodwork. But it is only the fool that will say that nobody can ever get them into trouble or that nobody will ever tell them off!

We live in a world where there are so many cameras and video surveillance that it is very hard not to get caught out when we do things wrong. But what most people forget (or choose to ignore) is that God is watching 24/7 and that He actually does see everything. How are you ever going to get away with sin when He is able to see your every move? How are you ever going to believe that He will turn a blind eye to your antics when He sees everything?

God is Just! That means that if He sees you do something wrong, then He has to do something about it! Scary thought! But one that we do need to remember. Something that we are not alone with either because the Children of Israel also had issues with forgetting that God sees everything. When they mumbled and groaned about what they had to put up with, who was the one watching over them? When they thought that they could complain to Moses and get him to petition God, who was watching and listening?

But just because we are not alone in doing things wrong it does not make it right in any way. Being wrong, naughty or sinful is exactly that, wrong, naughty and sinful. We are the ones who choose to go against righteousness and we choose to go against God – but we also choose to do it right in front of Him. We do this because we cannot see Him and we somehow hope He turns away just at the right time – well, guess what…

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you can get away with it?

Do you really think God is not watching?