Practicing the Presence of Christ

Do children get into mischief when they think the teacher is looking, or when they think the teacher’s attention is elsewhere?  Does the thief steal when he thinks the policeman is looking, or when he thinks the policeman is not around?  If you die, go to heaven, and come face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ, will you do evil?  Then why do it now, when He can see you just as easily?

Every person who professes a belief in the Lord is professing belief in an omniscient and omnipresent God.  That people believe these things about Deity is not surprising, for how could God be God without having these qualities?  And yet most of these same people live as practicing atheists.  That is, they live most of the day oblivious to His watchful eyes – as if He wasn’t present and didn’t know what they were thinking, saying, and doing.  Why?

We don’t work to form the habit of remembering Christ’s presence for the simple reason that it might inhibit some forbidden pleasure we might want to indulge – some grudge, some lust, some unwholesome thought.   The whole world – even some people who profess loudly that they believe in Jesus Christ – cannot sustain the thought of His continual presence simply because they are unwilling to give up their desires for His.  If we truly love the Lord, however, we’ll be happy to forsake those things He doesn’t like to see.

If you believe that Jesus is everywhere and that He sees everything, start acting upon that belief and He will become as real to you as anything else in your life.  Constantly acknowledging to yourself that His loving and righteous eyes are upon you will give you the power to literally be on your best behavior.

Beware of living your life to impress people.  This is where most of us make our mistake.  Instead of living our life for the approval of God, we live it for the approval of people.  Not necessarily all people.  Some of us can be pretty choosy about whose good opinion we seek.  But regardless of whose approval you seek, it will cause you to miss out on the benefit that comes from trying to please Christ alone.  If you are trying to please people, you’ll receive whatever rewards people are willing and able to give you.  If, however, you are trying to please our Lord Jesus Christ, you open your life to the many and great rewards that only He can give.

To seek Christ’s approval instead of people’s is a habit born of practice.  You must consciously choose to think your thoughts, speak your words, and take your actions based on your conviction that He sees everything and will respond appropriately to you.  This is your faith.  If you say you have faith in Him but don’t live this way, then you are only deceiving yourself.  If you try to live this way, but can’t it just means you aren’t willing to let go of your sins or that you aren’t forgiving others of theirs.  The presence of Christ is meant to redeem us from sin, not allow us to continue in it.

For more context, see this overview.

The purpose of this blog is to provide information about Jesus to those who want to hear about Him without having to join something.