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Invisible Eyes
By Sarah Hoeck
It takes you a couple minutes to get out of bed this morning. You feel so tired; you decide to have your morning cup of coffee early today. But before you can make your steaming hot cup of caffeine, you just must have you morning paper to read. You walk outside into the cool, brisk air and down your long driveway. As you pick up the newspaper, the headline catches your eye. “Main Street Serial Killer Strikes Again!” it screams. Chills run down your spine and they’re definitely not from the cold breeze rushing around you. You quickly turn around and rush inside. The terror is even worse for you. You live on Main Street.
Without realizing what you’re doing, you have made your pot of coffee. As you take your first sip, the soothing aroma runs through you. You feel better almost instantly, less jumpy and afraid. You calmly sit down and drink some more of your “stress-relieving” coffee. You start reading the actual article, but stop practically right away. You saw a name. A name you recognized. You continue to read and the reality and terror creep back into you. The lady eight houses down from you is dead. The article says a thief broke into her house, tied her up and raped her. Then, after she thought it all was over, he killed her.
You stop reading to find you can’t move. Even though you weren’t friends with her, you knew her. You can’t believe this has happened so close to your home. Before, when the murders were committed in a different subdivision, you always thought it would never affect you, never mind happen so close. You skip some of the article to look for the time it happened. “It figures,” you think, trying to make a joke out of it. “Those criminals always commit their crimes during that time. I mean they have imagination in every other aspect but not this one. Ha!” But, in all truth, you are more frightened than ever before. You’re most vulnerable when it’s the darkest and when you’re asleep.
Now, I’m not saying that crimes are only committed at night. But have you noticed, most do happen when it’s dark out? And why is that? It’s because practically no one is out. No one is around. No one can be a witness. There will be no consequences as long as the police don’t solve the case. And they won’t, because nobody was there to witness it. No one was watching. Or at least, that’s what they think.
Now, imagine this. Somewhere, there is someone who knows everything about you. This someone can see every single thing you do. He watches every move you make. He can hear everything you say. And, even more amazingly, he knows every single thought that ever enters your mind, even if it’s for only a millisecond. When you tell your friend you love her new haircut, he knows if you’re lying. He knows everything about your life. And before you laugh this off, know that it’s true, all of it. Of course, no human, man or woman, would be able to read your mind. But I’m not talking about a human. I’m talking about God.
God watches every move you make. He sees every step you take. He knows everything you’ve ever thought. He knows more about you than you do. For instance, do you know how many hairs are on your head? God does. In Matthew 10:30, Jesus says, “But the very hairs on your head are all numbered.”
And in Jeremiah 1:4-5(a) it says, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…’” I’m practically certain that no one on the face of the earth can say that about himself or herself, not even you. Most people can’t remember what they were like before three years old, without someone telling them, never mind not even being created yet.
Okay, so we know that God is watching us every second of every day. But who cares if he can read our minds? So what if he watches our every move? Why should we care?
Now, let’s assume that somewhere out there, there was someone who’s job was to be your judge. This judge would watch you constantly and listen to every word you said or thought. And then, he would determine whether you should live or die. The choice is all up to him. His punishments are so horrifying you would faint if you knew you would have to go through it. There would be extreme pain, more than you could ever imagine, and then, there would be death. But this judge wasn’t all harsh. He was actually very merciful. If you asked Him for forgiveness and then walked righteously, you would live.
God is your judge. He decides if you live or die. He decides if you will have eternal life or not. He’s really the only one who can actually judge us. But so what if He thinks we are absolutely wicked? Who cares if He thinks we are self-centered, sick in the head, dirty mouthed, lazy, temperamental complainers? Why should we care if what He thinks is what He knows is true? Why should we care? Maybe, it’s because God’s judgment is the only judgment that matters.
In the end, God is the only real judge. He alone decides what happens to that criminal and what happens to you. He determines if you’ll have eternal life or not. So, maybe, instead of asking, “why should we care,” we should ask, “why shouldn’t we?” i
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