The Eyes of the Lord
I was in the habit of playing golf with two of my elders. On one of those days, after about 30 minutes a twosome of a middle aged man and his twelve-year-old nephew walked up and joined our group. We did not know them, but it did not take long to learn about the man. After a few bad shots, he began to use curse words. I did not know him, but before long he learned that I was a preacher. He acted embarrassed and said to me, “I’m sorry that I talked like that in front of you.”
I was bothered, but it was not his foul language that troubled me. I was bothered by two attitudes of this man.
First, he was sorry about cursing in front of a grown man, but had no concern for the way he was behaving in front of his 12-year-old nephew.
Second, even if he had been concerned about the presence of his nephew, he gave no thought to the presence of the Lord.
I was bothered but not shocked. It was not the first time someone has apologized to me for bad language in my presence. Being a preacher does that to some folks.
Some folks work at behaving like a Christian when they are around other Christians. They are embarrassed when another Christ follower “catches them” acting or speaking in an unbecoming way.
Some Christians are careful to behave before other people, but forget that even when they are alone, the Lord is always present. The Psalmist said, “Where can I go from You presence?” (Ps 139). Faithful Christians know there is no place where God is not. Solomon wrote, “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch.” (Pro 15:3).
~Lonnie Davis