'Show Me' Trilogy

"An unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates

Have you noticed how much corruption results when people are left unchecked? I have to admit that I have become sort of desensitized to the daily reports of political offices up for sale, financial institutions bankrupting after first bleeding the folks whose funds they 'managed' penniless, and people harpooning one another just to get to a parking space at CVS!

If politicians were actually accountable, would there be broken campaign promises? If spouses were completely transparent, would there be divorce? If teenagers went to where they asked permission to go, would there be a need for GPS units tracking their whereabouts to their parents laptop? Can a society actually be governed apart from regulatory commissions? Would athletes keep from 'performance enhancers' if there were not random testing? Would you go home early on Friday if the boss was on vacation? Would you be more prudent on the computer if you knew the FBI would investigate your web browsing history?

We need accountability. Accountability is God's safeguard and road map. Accountability guards what we do, and guides what we should be doing. Accountability keeps us on task and directs our energies to what is really meaningful, valuable and profitable. When we take seriously that our lives on this earth and beyond this existence will be measured, that alone should keep us from frittering away time and taking seriously that God is watching when no one else is. He cares what you are doing. He is concerned for the choices that you are making. He is listening to the words you are speaking. He is aware of your every move. His attention to details, specifically the details of your life, is meticulous.

"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." Hebrews 9:27

God is 'all knowing'. That is just one of His inexhaustible and indescribable attributes. As hard as that is to comprehend...He is 'in the know' about you...and in spite of what He knows, He makes invitation to you to bless you with His lasting joy and provision. Combined in all that God knows about you...He is fully aware of your needs...material, emotional, relational and no doubt, eternal. That is why, couched around the verse just mentioned are these just as important words of instruction, encouragement and comfort;

"He has appeared once for all, at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Hebrews 9:26-28

He readies us for the Big Day of accountability by removing the regrets caused by choices made, thoughts imagined and words carelessly or intentionally spoken. He knows that we are unprepared to stand before Him to be appraised, and so He makes the needed provision (forgiveness and salvation) for us because of His undeniable love...revealed through His dying for our living.

Keep that in mind the next time you feel the urgent need to blurt out insult or flip off the driver who just cut over into your lane of traffic. Keep in your mind and heart that although you struggle with sin, that He has atoned for it and offers you a life worth living and examining. Right now...thank God for regulating you! Praise Him for the parameters of His protection that He provides to keep you off the off ramps of life. Thank Him for superintending your minutes by calling your attention to the details, the results and the consequences of your choices.

Live as though your Final Exam were today. Be prepared to show Him what He already knows to be true about you. Let your readiness prompt anticipation and eagerness to appear before Him face to face. There need be no shame on that day...and there really can be great joy and reward as you enjoy the God who loves you through these days that lead to eternity with Him.