“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”
Luke 8:17 NASB
While living in the small town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming, we were never far from wide open spaces. We had two dogs at the time, Hosanna, a chow-lab mix, and Shadow, a purebred registered Great Pyrenees. Though not a common occurrence, both dogs escaped from our fenced in yard and went missing one afternoon. Fortunately for us, after futile attempts to find them, they returned home a few days later. Their wanderings had left them hungry, filthy dirty, and suffering from a run-in with a porcupine – ouch! Both snouts were pricked with quills, and it was an arduous task removing them.
Several weeks passed and we noticed a bump forming on Hosanna’s nose. You guessed it. A piece of quill had obviously broken off and become imbedded and was working its way out. Eventually, the site festered, and with much effort and apparent discomfort to Hosanna, we were able to remove the culprit.
All too often, just like our pets, we are tempted to drift outside the boundaries God has put in place for our safety. For whatever reason, whether it be willful or ignorant disobedience, we stray from God’s truths. We come face to face with sin, and sometimes it wins. As a loving caretaker, God patiently removes the painful offences when we return and yield to Him.
However, just like porcupine quills, hidden sin can bury itself deep within our hearts. We can ignore it and pretend it isn’t there. Hidden from others, it can easily go undetected – for a while. But eventually, the ugliness will surface and fester and spew itself from deep within. Don’t be fooled – nothing is ever hidden from God. And He will one day bring it to the light.
King David, a man after God’s own heart, yet familiar with playing with temptation, offers us great hope in Psalm 19:12-13. Look at his declaration to God for help, and let it be your prayer today and always:
“How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” (NLT)
[Digging deeper – Psalm 10:11, 69:5, 139:23-24; Isaiah 29:15; Daniel 2:22; 2 Corinthians 4:2]
Watching and praying,
Beverly <><
Photo Credit: Photo Pl000809 by Jane Schlossberg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jschlossberg) via freeforcommericialuse.org
In this passage we are reminded of the two greatest commandments. First, we are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. When we truly love God in this manner, we experience what it really means to delight ourselves in the Lord, and this love we have been given begins to overflow from us. Let’s spend today making sure our hearts are fully committed to God, our soul is refreshed in His Spirit, our bodies are strengthened by His power, and our mind filled with His Word so that we may offer a hundred percent of ourselves in service to God. Pray that we will, first and foremost, seek to love and obey God with our lives, and that His love would pour from us to those who are searching and desperately need God.