Have you ever been with someone that seemed to know your next sentence, someone that you didn’t feel you could fool with your words or your actions? My mom was one of those people. I often wondered how she knew what I was thinking and usually stayed one step ahead of me. I tried to be that way with my children, paying attention to their every move, their action, and their reactions to situations in order to figure out what they we up to. While I tried to see through them there was always a margin of error. But there is one who can see right through me and you. It is Jesus. He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Nothing can be hidden from Him. In Psalm 139 the psalmist talks about how we are made and known of God. Every part of our being was formed by Him and He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Psalm 139:15-16 “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Not only does He know everything about us one day it will be revealed. Some are very private people, and some are open books, but even open books have pages they don’t want anyone to read. We all have things about us that we don’t want the world to know. In Luke 12:2, Luke makes it clear that there will come a day when everything will be revealed.
Luke 12:2 “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known”
There is another danger that is far greater than our sins being known by God or revealed to others. It is the fact that we can deceive ourselves. I’ve often heard my husband and a former pastor say, “if you’re deceived, you don’t know you’re deceived, if you did you wouldn’t be deceived.” This presents a scary thought that we could be one way and think of ourselves as something else. Yet, it is possible. Galatians 6:7 and James 1:16 warns of that. It is obvious we can deceive ourselves even as Christians. James is speaking to “beloved brothers.” This was the name used by fellow Christians in the New Testament church. When you have deceived yourself, you alone are to blame for it.
Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
James 1:16 “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”
How can this happen? Self-deception always begins with a lie. A lie that is believed, fostered by pride. Christians who don’t study the Bible in context can believe almost anything. Satan will always take scripture and twist it. He made Eve believe a lie and He tried the same tactic with Jesus in the wilderness. We are to measure ourselves by God’s word and the more we know God’s word and spend time with Him the more we will know ourselves.
Self-deception is what happened to the church of Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3. Jesus said they thought themselves to be in need of nothing, yet they were wretched, poor, blind, and naked. He described them as “luke warm.” These are those Jesus said He would spit out of His mouth. They will not inherit eternal life.
Revelation 3:14-17 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
How do we guard against this happening to us? Get to know God. Seek Him, study His word, it is His letter of how to live our lives. It shows us who He is and who we are. Talk to Him all throughout the day. Ask Him to reveal to you the motives behind your thoughts. He sees all and knows all. He sees right through us. Take time to get to know this God that loves you and longs for you to desire Him.