So the deal with Santa Claus is that he can see you. He sees when you are sleeping and when you are awake, he knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.
So Santa is watching all the time, taking notes on the good things and especially the bad things that you have done so he can decide whether or not to reward you with a present on Christmas. This is all fine and well if you are a parent trying anything you can to keep your young one in line. But what happens when we grow into adulthood and these ideas linger in the recesses of our minds?
Just this summer I overheard one of my teenagers here at the YMCA say, "religion is just something that people make up to scare you into acting right."
I have to admit, I've pondered the idea of an all knowing, all seeing God and walked away with uneasiness in my gut. Usually, because I know that I have plenty that I'd rather keep hidden than bring out into the light for anyone to see.
However I've recently come across a quote by A.W. Tozer that sheds light on how God's ever present eye works in our favor, not against us.
"How unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. No talebearer can inform on us; no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us utterably before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us."
As the Bible states, There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. -1 John 4:18-19
4 comments:
It's crazy to think he loved in spite of knowing all of the things that we have done and all of the things that we think about doing. The whole idea of God being beyond time and space is wild to think about.
Y'know, that's hard for me to swallow sometimes, because I do screw up, but it's true. I often tell our youth that Jesus loves us no matter what we've done, are doing, or are going to do. It's that unconditional love that so sets Him apart from us.
The same things we tell our children about Santa Claus is so much like God! He sees us when we are sleeping and awake and everything else between! EVERYTHING, we do, God knows it and nothing we do is a surprize. But with all our messing up, yea He still loves me!! Mr. Keith
Great thoughts...probably the most relevant thing I've read in a long time!
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