His Watchful Eyes
Then Jesus told them this parable, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. ‘ I tell you that there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:3-7
A friend of mine told me today that God has her in “His peripheral vision.” I hope she isn’t mad at me but I immediately corrected her. I told her, “Oh no, hon, you may have God in your peripheral vision but He has eyes straight on you. He’s watching you.” I told her, “always watching.” She laughed so as I said, I hope she isn’t upset with me.
A few years ago my son Joseph told me not to worry about him and his relationship with God. “I’ve got Him on my back burner for now Mom but it’s all good. He understands.”
To be honest statements like those scare the living daylights out of me. God, God, the Almighty, the absolute Authority, Master, Creator, Omnipotent God gets put on back burners and tossed into the periphery? Think about that for a second. That’s scary right?
The scariest part is that my friend believes what she said, that God has her in some secondary position, some sideline area. Why I wonder would anyone see God that way? What would He be thinking? “Oh there’s that woman I created. I had big plans for her but I guess she’s busy doing her own thing. No problem, I’ll just keep half an eye on her until she’s ready for me.” Not hardly! And I wonder as I listen to her speak, is she ever going to be ready? Her life is not without strife. She’s had serious illness effect those near and dear to her. She’s had some minor health concerns herself. Her children have faced some challenges, as have some of her more distant family members. She does not live on Cloud Nine or Easy Street. She lives in this broken world with the rest of us. So how is it that she doesn’t realize how deeply she needs a Savior?
Don’t misunderstand, this is not some hard, awful person. This is a genuinely nice woman who does lovely things for other people. While I appreciate that at the same moment that scares me a little too. She is nice and she does good things. I have great concern that she falls into the “but I’m a nice person so God’s okay with me, right?” Well, to be frank, God is madly in love with you but it has nothing to do with what you do or who you are. I’d love to tell her that it isn’t at all about how God sees her but all about how she sees Him.
Today she sees Him as some benevolent benefactor standing off to the side taking care of His important business while she takes care of hers. Worse sometimes she sees Him as really ticked at her because of something she has said or done. She does not see herself as the one lost sheep He is constantly tracking while the ninety-nine wander around secure in the knowledge of His saving grace.
My friend has no idea how dangerous her thinking is. I feel to some small extent the urgency we see in Jesus’ life on earth when talking to her. I want so much to say, “Wake up! You have so much to offer, so much to learn and so much to gain by just embracing the free gift of salvation. I can’t I have to speak carefully, pray for her and follow the advice of St. Francis of Assisi “Preach the Gospel at all times and when it is necessary use words.”
A friend of mine told me today that God has her in “His peripheral vision.” I hope she isn’t mad at me but I immediately corrected her. I told her, “Oh no, hon, you may have God in your peripheral vision but He has eyes straight on you. He’s watching you.” I told her, “always watching.” She laughed so as I said, I hope she isn’t upset with me.
A few years ago my son Joseph told me not to worry about him and his relationship with God. “I’ve got Him on my back burner for now Mom but it’s all good. He understands.”
To be honest statements like those scare the living daylights out of me. God, God, the Almighty, the absolute Authority, Master, Creator, Omnipotent God gets put on back burners and tossed into the periphery? Think about that for a second. That’s scary right?
The scariest part is that my friend believes what she said, that God has her in some secondary position, some sideline area. Why I wonder would anyone see God that way? What would He be thinking? “Oh there’s that woman I created. I had big plans for her but I guess she’s busy doing her own thing. No problem, I’ll just keep half an eye on her until she’s ready for me.” Not hardly! And I wonder as I listen to her speak, is she ever going to be ready? Her life is not without strife. She’s had serious illness effect those near and dear to her. She’s had some minor health concerns herself. Her children have faced some challenges, as have some of her more distant family members. She does not live on Cloud Nine or Easy Street. She lives in this broken world with the rest of us. So how is it that she doesn’t realize how deeply she needs a Savior?
Don’t misunderstand, this is not some hard, awful person. This is a genuinely nice woman who does lovely things for other people. While I appreciate that at the same moment that scares me a little too. She is nice and she does good things. I have great concern that she falls into the “but I’m a nice person so God’s okay with me, right?” Well, to be frank, God is madly in love with you but it has nothing to do with what you do or who you are. I’d love to tell her that it isn’t at all about how God sees her but all about how she sees Him.
Today she sees Him as some benevolent benefactor standing off to the side taking care of His important business while she takes care of hers. Worse sometimes she sees Him as really ticked at her because of something she has said or done. She does not see herself as the one lost sheep He is constantly tracking while the ninety-nine wander around secure in the knowledge of His saving grace.
My friend has no idea how dangerous her thinking is. I feel to some small extent the urgency we see in Jesus’ life on earth when talking to her. I want so much to say, “Wake up! You have so much to offer, so much to learn and so much to gain by just embracing the free gift of salvation. I can’t I have to speak carefully, pray for her and follow the advice of St. Francis of Assisi “Preach the Gospel at all times and when it is necessary use words.”
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