You’re so busted?!

At some point — probably as kids — we’ve all known that cold, paralyzing feeling of terror seizing us when suddenly we were busted.

I was reminded of that a few days ago when a friend on Facebook commented he was at his home listening to several teen boys who weren’t aware he could hear what they were saying.

Uh-oh.

Could you imagine the surprise when they discovered an adult heard every word they said?

Busted!

Well … maybe. Maybe not.

Just because they’re teen boys doesn’t mean what they say among themselves would have to be something an adult would find objectionable or get them into trouble. Perhaps no more so than what is said around the water cooler or break room table at your place of work about your boss or co-workers … right?

Is there a reason a teen would be uncomfortable having his conversations laid bare before his parents? Or for you to be timid about your boss overhearing what you have to say about where you work?

Or is it that you portray yourself as being one person in front of your parents or boss and actually think, feel, and act differently when away from them?

Living as a Christian is perpetually living before a Parent. God not only hears everything we say, He sees everything we do, knows everything we feel, and knows everything we think, all the time. There’s not a place you can go to escape His view or His knowing. King David wrote about God’s all-seeing, all-knowing capacity in Psalm 139:7-12:

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night — but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”

If that fact scares you, then you’re likely living a double life; one where you try to appease God, another where you think, feel, and act the “real” you. Here’s what scripture says about a person who lives that way:

“… for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do,” James 1:6b-8.

Living for Christ requires living authentically before Him. No more pretense. No more trying to wear a mask in front of the one who sees your mind and heart. But instead, yielding your entire being to Him so that He can mold your thinking and desires into something you wouldn’t have to fear anyone (especially God) seeing or knowing.

Now is the time to become authentic with God, before the time comes when those who are living a double life will be busted for good: “So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time — before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due,” 1 Corinthians 4:5.

Scotty