Honesty versus Mediocrity

I have mentioned before the little book “77 habits of highly ineffective Christians” and if you are only interested in being a mediocre Christian, perhaps you should not read today’s message! No 45 of the 77 habits tells you that to be ineffective you should not be real with God. The author, Chris Fabry, noted from his surveys of mediocre Christians that almost 100% of them avoid any sense of reality with God. They make sure that in their moments of prayer no mention is made of struggles or disappointments. They do not tell Him about debt, or dissatisfaction in any area of their lives, and they keep Him at a distance by not acknowledging their real feelings or emotions. This helps them believe that they can hide things from God, and that they can live the same double life with him as they do with the world.

If they were to see my reading of this morning they would hastily close the Bible and rather turn to the newspaper to see what Madam & Eve, or Andy and Flo Capp are getting up to.

O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in, behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your Presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light toYou. (Psalm 139:1-12)

What is more, He knows my history better than I do. He goes further back into my past than I can remember, and He knows what lies ahead around every corner.

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. (V 13-16)

Going back to Proverbs 5:21 I see that a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord and in Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

What is more, He knows my heart and watches over it.

The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

There is no way I can escape His view of me, so it doesn’t help to be anything other than wholly honest with Him, trusting Him with my every thought and action.

Awesome!