The Sweet Psalmist of Israel wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalm14:1-3). Such a sad thought that God would look down upon His highest creation on earth and determine that they are all become filthy. Yet, there is another and maybe even more sobering thought found in this brief text. It is in the words, “The Lord looked down from heaven…to see”. If it is not sobering to each of us to realize that the Lord can and does look down from heaven and see what we are doing, what we are thinking, where we are at, who we are with and anything else He chooses to see, then we have no true belief in God and are such as the psalmist mentioned in that first verse when he said, “the fool”.

From God’s view point, He can see it all! We can hide nothing from Him. The Hebrew writer said, “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” (Heb. 4:13). Jonah could not hide from God in the belly of a ship (Jonah 1:3-4). Though Achan buried the garment, the gold and the silver in the ground in his tent, God knew he had taken them (Joshua 7:1, 21). Our thoughts and our feelings may well be hid from those around us, but neither are they hid from the eye of God. As the Lord told Samuel, “…the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (I Sam. 16:7). Though we may keep secrets from man, those secrets will come out in the judgment, for God already knows what they are. Solomon said, “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecc. 12:14).

Yea, though most who espouse any form of the Christian religion would already acknowledge the truth of God’s ability to look down from heaven and see what we are and what we are doing, both inwardly as well as outwardly, when we stop to dwell upon this concept a bit, it indeed ought to be a sobering thought. Just ask yourself the question; Concerning “me”, what does God see when He looks down?

We could use the remainder of this space, as well as many other such articles to enumerate many areas and specifics that we really need to consider in our daily lives. One’s unfaithfulness to his or her spouse may be hidden from their spouse, but not from God. Dishonesty in business deals, on the job or in any realm, hidden from many but known by God. On and on the list could go and it would certainly do us all good to keep in mind that our life is more readily available to God than we usually consider. Yet, there is one major realm in which we need to understand that God can see us and knows, even if we ourselves do not even realize where we are in this realm.

A lawyer once asked Jesus, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matt. 22:36). Jesus answered him saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38). The reason we wish to consider this is that when the Lord looks down, He can tell if one is actually fulfilling this or not and the doing of it involves much more than just verbally saying those words. Loving the Lord thy God requires much more than just dabbling in Christianity. It requires obeying the commands of the Lord. As the Lord told His apostles, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Keeping the commandments of the Lord necessitates a few other things. First, that means “all” of His commandments, not just those that you agree with or are comfortable with. If a command of God steps on your toes, it is your toes that need to be moved, not God’s word. Also keeping the commandments of the Lord requires one to know what the commandments of the Lord are. There is one way and one way only to know of a certainty what those commandments are. That way is to honestly study the word of God for oneself, without leaning on what others say, what you have always heard or believed or what you want it to say. Paul told Timothy to “…study to show thyself approved unto God…” (II Tim. 2:15). As you can see, “this loving God command” can be more than it may first seem.

Add to the above the fact that Jesus said that love was to be with “all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. This is total commitment, not doing the least that one can get by with. This requires sacrifice on our part. David once said, “…neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doeth cost me nothing” (II Sam. 24:24). Do you “really” love the Lord? When the Lord looks down from heaven and sees you. Is that what He sees? (Send any questions or comments to: [email protected])

Robert Oliver is a longtime columnist for The Sampson Independent.

By Robert Oliver

Contributing columnist

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