GOD IS WATCHING YOU!

This week my annual one-year trek through the Bible has me in Deuteronomy, Job and Acts… I love Acts… Not so much Job… I know it’s an incredible book, but sometimes it leaves me…confused…

But today I was reading Job 10… Job is responding to the feedback of his opinionated friends. And He is just flat out ticked off. But not only is he ticked off; he’s broken, hurting, wounded and, like me, a little confused…

I was stunned today when I read Job 10:11-14. It reminds me of what some people I meet and interact with think about God… Here’s the passage…

Job 10:11-14 (NLT), You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. 12 You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.

Job looks up at the sky. It feels as if God is a million miles away, yet somehow he manages to say, “God, I know I’m not an accident… I’m here because of you… You planned my conception and birth… You formed my body… You gave me life… Not only that, you loved me… You’ve kept me alive to this day…”

That’s great stuff, right? You bet.

But then in Verse 13, Job describes what a lot of people think and how a lot of people feel about God…

Job 10:13-15 (NLT), "'Yet your real motive? I know this was your intent 14 was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my iniquity.’”

I think there are a lot of people who feel exactly the same… You meet them everyday… Maybe you work together, workout together, or maybe your kids attend the same school or play on the same team… Sometimes you rub shoulders with these people when you’re in the check out line at Publix… Sometimes it the girl or guy who serves you at P.F. Chang’s… Sometimes it’s the neighbor who lives across the street that you rarely, if ever, get to spend any real time with…

But there are loads of people who have this misconception about God… “God is watching and He’s out to GET ME… If I blow it… If I sin, it’s all over… He won’t forgive me… He’ll never forget… I’ll never live up to His expectations…”

I think a lot of us are like Job… On our good days we believe, “God created me… He has a purpose for my life…” That belief feels pretty good.

But then, on our bad days, sometimes we wonder, “Yeah, this is what God’s about… He’s some hard-nosed deity who’s just waiting to catch me doing something wrong, and then I am toast…”

Job would eventually discover that’s not God’s character at all…

What about you? What about your friends, family and the people you interact with who have the same misconception?

Maybe you could take the next opportunity God gives you to share this little thought with them… Make certain they know you mean it… Make certain it’s more to you than an end zone sign that gets flashed, but never fleshed out…

Maybe you could look at that person who desperately needs to understand the character of God and recite a verse you learned a lot of years ago, but sometimes fail to remember…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” John 3:16-17 (NLT)

Is God watching? You better believe it! But maybe His motive is not what you’ve come to believe… Maybe God is watching you because He loves you, and it’s His great to desire to save…

To learn more check out the song by Lenny Kravitz titled, “A New Door.” Click here.