There is nothing “Christian” about keeping watch of other’s life and talk about that.
Sometimes we act like God’s secret agents who can pick out the guilty one among many.
The word of God says, “If anyone thinks they are something [a secret agent for God] when they are not, they deceive themselves.” (Galatians 6:3)
It is very lethal and dangerous for us to act like God’s “hand-picked” kind of a secret agent or a police officer or better yet, God’s private detective agent.
It causes us total blindness. When we watch other’s lives, work as a detective, we get blind to the most important aspect of our own walk with Christ, i.e. keeping close watch on ourselves.
When we don’t really keep close watch on ourselves, we feel justified, sanctified and well rounded people on our own terms. Pride gets the best of us and it puffs us up and makes us think that we are the most devoted and faithful agents of God. Yes, pride will take over our lives.
And you know what the Bible says about the prideful person: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”(James 4:6)
God opposes! Wow! Just imagine yourself standing on the opposite side from where God is standing at. God forbid that none of us take this position at any moment in our lives. I mean, it is a very frightening place to be.
We always need to desire to be on the same side that God is at. That is the place God multiplies His grace and mercy. And that place is called a place of humbleness, the place we keep close watch on our lives, minding our own business. When we keep close watch on our lives, we start to converse with our own soul, like this:
“Okay, you’ve been struggling with “this sin” for the last, how many years? Phew! Don’t even count it! And what did you do about it? Absolutely nothing! I mean, are you going to say, “Well, I prayed and cried before God!” Are you saying that God is deaf to your prayers and in effect, accusing this big God? I mean, for how many years you have locked yourself up in this position of confessing, crying and going back to the same sin as the dog returns to its vomit? Why don’t you use your brain? You keep on doing the same thing again, and again and again, and do you expect different outcomes? Are you a lunatic? Don’t you have some common sense here? You act like a well-behaved Christian in the church. Yes, did you see how your pastor called you last week and spoke to you as if you were one of those devoted Christians in the church? And you know why, don’t you? You are a good actor. Period! But you have to stop this! And you have to stop it now! You need to make a U-turn and run for your life. Go to the word of God and do what the word of God says. Come out of your closet and show your true color to the people who can help you. Your nice outfit covered your real color. You lied to everyone including yourself that everything is alright but you know that you can’t lie to God who sees everything. He’ll mock on your sufferings if you continue mocking in His righteousness, seeing Him as an old man who can’t even tell black from white color. God is a Just God! He is a Holy God. Please go to those Christians who study the Bible and start studying the word with them. Start your own Bible study. Camouflaging only helps to lengthen the years of chameleons, not yours. Remember, God loves you more than you can ever know and understand. He will help you!”
Wow! Isn’t this a lovely, authentic, down to earth humble and open conversation between self and soul?
The problem is most of us don’t even have time to be alone with ourselves. We are actually scared to be alone, fearing that our soul may bring to mind difficult topics. So, we always “on the go!”
But the thing is, when we encourage ourselves to be engaged in this kind of conversation with our soul as often as we can (King David used to do this a lot, read Psalms), God looks at us and says, “Here we go! Now my children are coming back to their senses. It is time for Me then to pour out and multiply my grace and favor on them so that they soar like an eagle and do the impossible, which is, to be the people I created them in Christ Jesus to be.”
Wow! Did you see that?
Humbleness doesn’t mean bowing down before man but having a humble spirit before God, a soul that is always in the kneeling position, seeking the favor, grace and mercy of God.
Do you know what this person, who has a humble spirit and soul, is called before God?
The humble!
Listen:
“For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2 NASB)
And listen again to one of Jesus’ wonderful parables:
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
Amen! May God help us all to humble ourselves before Him!
Guess what God always plans to do with the broken and humble “vessel?”
He takes it and uses it so it can teach to other vessels how to bow down and humble themselves before God, minding their own business, keeping close watch on their own lives. It is very easy for this vessel to do this task because, the word of God says,
“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16 ESV) ///