God Does Something Better Than Watch Us
For generations, kids have been good at Christmas because Santa is watching them. Parents today now lay it on thicker with the whole Elf on the Shelf thing. Someone is watching you, so you better behave.
We don’t outgrow that. Regardless of their religious beliefs, most adults view God like a bigger version of Santa or as the Ultimate Elf. God is watching you.
We can’t deny that Scripture affirms God is watching.
“Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways” (Ps. 139:1-3).
But God is not an objective observer, adding tally marks to His naughty-or-nice list. Yes, He watches us because He is God and sees all—but He also watches because He loves us! He watches because He cares.
But God goes a step further. He desires to be with us. That’s the whole purpose of Jesus, God’s Son, coming to earth. In the prophecy of the coming Messiah, He was given the name Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Isa. 7:14). During His time on earth, His follows knew the wonder of God’s presence because He was in the same room with them!
Jesus’s mission on earth was to ultimately take care of the reason God can’t be with us forever. God will have nothing to do with sin, and as long as sin is attached to us, we can’t enter His presence. Jesus went to the cross, took our sin for His own, and died in our place. His death removed the sin barrier. When we turn to Him and trust Him, He forgives, and we can live in the presence of God!
But, oh, it gets better. After His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended back to heaven, but He did not leave us alone. He sent His Holy Spirit. More than God being with us, His Spirit is in us!
Jesus painted a wonderful picture of this in John 15. Using the analogy of a vine and its branches, He talks of our residing in Him and He is residing in us. That is close—intimately close!
Christian, lose the concern that God doesn’t care. We all have times when we feel God is far away, but that distant feeling is just that—a feeling. The truth is God is with us. He doesn’t watch from a distance; He walks with us, and as He rely on His presence, He will give us the assurance and guidance we need as we need it.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).
“God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).
Why would I want some lame Elf on the Shelf theology—as if God was watching from some celestial shelf—when I can walk with Him as He lives in me?
“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
Subscribe to this blog or like our Facebook page. And share this post with others.
If you would like a printable version of this, check out PrintFriendly.
Banner photo by flickr.
