November 8 – Authentic Thoughts (Proverbs 15: 8-11)

“Death and destruction lie open before the Lord — how much more the hearts of men!”(Proverbs 15:11)

IN WORD:
If we want to get to that place of fearing the Lord — you know, the place where wisdom begins — then all we have to do is consider this: He knows everything! All of those exceedingly embarrassing thoughts — Hateful? Lustful? Twisted? All of the above? — are laid bare before Him. We are publicly stripped, the nakedness of our soul held right in front of his eyes — that burning, piercing, holy gaze. The bright spotlight of glory shines right on our most private places. Everything we were ever ashamed of is in His full view.
Our first reaction to that is shame. Just as Adam & Eve nervously covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God’s presence, we push thoughts of His judgment to the back of our minds. “Surely we’re not that bad, are we? Everyone knows He’s lenient, right? Doesn’t grace give us a pretty big margin of error?” But all we’ve done is justify ourselves or compromise God in order to reconcile the two. Our fig leaves overestimate our righteousness or underestimate his holiness — or both. We just can’t face up to our shame.
But the penetrating gaze of God is gracious. Yes, our shame is, in fact, legitimate. And no, He doesn’t casually overlook our sins. We are entirely right to feel guilty. But we are invited to lay our guilt on Jesus, exchanging our rotten life for His perfect one. Oh, the mercy of the all-seeing God! He does not just look at us and shake His head in bewilderment. He deals with it all. He doesn’t give us a margin for our errors, He crucified his righteousness to pay for them. Everything He sees is accounted for. Everything! Which is really important for us to know, because there is nothing He doesn’t see.

IN DEED:
The one who understands God’s perfect, merciful vision is the one who will live sober-minded and aware of the gravity of a life in His view. Wisdom thrives in that life. There is no pretense there, only gratitude. The authentic life will never be casual again. And though completely laid bare, it will never have cause to be ashamed.

“He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.” -A.W. Tozer-