An excerpt from The Love of Jesus from The Valley of Vision:
If traces of Christ’s love-artistry be upon me,
….may he work on with his divine brush
….until the complete image be obtained
….and I be made a perfect copy of him, my Master.
Romans 2:1-16 (<<click here to read the passage)
Maybe you’ve heard this one before, but it teaches us a few lessons.
Mildred, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church’s morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business. Several members disapproved of her extra-curricular activities but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being a “drinker” after she saw his old truck parked in front of the town’s only bar one afternoon.
She emphatically told George in the presence of several others, that whoever saw it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn’t explain, defend, or deny. He said nothing.
Later that evening, George quietly parked his truck in front of Mildred’s house…walked home…and left it there all night.
Even an “implied” secret life can get us into trouble. But in reality, it is only genuine secret lives for which we will be held accountable.
Paul states in verse 16,
And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life. NLT
I’d be surprised that anyone would not have some sort of secret life. We all have thoughts and desires that we would be reluctant to share with the world.
Now it’s easy to automatically jump to bad secret lives, but I can guarantee that many people live good secret lives, as well. People who do unsung acts of kindness, helping others in need. And they do it all behind the scenes, always avoiding detection of the recipients or the world around them.
Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:1-4,
“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” NLT
That’s the good…but we must be wary of leading secret lives that we would want no one to know about because of their leaning towards – or wallowing in – sin. I’m not going to list those for as I said, I’d be surprised that anyone would not have some sort of secret life. So, I think we could fill in those blanks pretty readily.
I am not shirking off responsibility on our part for without doubt those things need to be addressed. Our relationships with Christ will never move forward if we keep those things lingering beneath the surface of our lives
The author of Hebrews 12 encourages us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” vs1b-2 NIV
May that be our prayer, knowing that the day is coming…
Oct 5th, 2022, Wed, 7:06 pm
