Meditation for Monday
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
Airport security is very important, because of the need to prevent terrorists or anyone else from carrying weapons, explosives, or any other dangerous items or substances onto the airplanes. So the airports have come up with a variety of different methods to verify that each passenger and each passenger’s belongings are safe to board the planes. One of the most effective methods involved a full-body X-ray scanner made by a company called Rapiscan. This device is capable of detecting any metal objects a person might be carrying, and of also detecting any non-metal object or substance that a person might be hiding on their person. But the Rapiscan devices did their work all too well. People began complaining, because the images the security officers were seeing were just as though the person being scanned was standing totally naked in front of them. That would never do, so the Rapiscan scanners had to go, and were replaced by scanners that did not reveal so much. There is a scanner more powerful and precise than even the Rapiscan instruments, and it is called the Word of God.
Every day, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of crimes are committed, in which the criminal is never caught. People are killed, money and valuables are stolen, and other evil behaviour occurs, and nobody seems to know who did it. The largest file in the police department’s records is the one for cold cases. But somebody knows. The criminal knows. And so does God. Because every crime committed is not only against other people, it is against God. That is why Numbers 32:23 states that ye have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. Many crimes are committed in the dark when nobody is able to see. But the God Who can see a black ant on a black rock on a black night can – and does – see everything that happens in the darkness. Our text declares that not only does God see all these things, but He also will call us into account for every sin. He is the One with Whom we have to do. How dreadful is the prospect of the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11)!
But there is a place where you and I as God’s redeemed will also have to answer for our deeds, although not for punishment. Our salvation forever spares us from the judgment of the Great White Throne. But God has determined that all of those who serve the Lord will receive the appropriate recompense. Revelation 22:12, some of the final words in our Bible, are the proclamation of the Lord Jesus: ‘Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to every man according as his work shall be’. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us that our works as Christians will be either gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble. And it will all be tested by fire, which only the gold, silver, and precious stones will survive. And God won’t miss anything, good or bad. Even a cup of cold water given in Jesus Name will have its reward (Matthew 10:42).
So don’t look at today’s text as only a warning for those who do wrong; it is also an encouragement for those who do right. – Jim MacIntosh