What would you do differently in your life if someone was always watching you? Don’t you know I am always watching?

Psalm 139:1-2

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

Someone’s Watching You

Think nobody’s watching? Read this true story. Years ago, a man was hired by a huge company. The board of directors had to vote on this position since he was going to be vice president of operations. They told the man the good news and asked him to go down to the cafeteria to eat with the board members to celebrate. They allowed him to go first in line. When the newly hired VP of operations was in line, he slid a 2-cent pat of butter underneath his dinner roll and then paid for his meal without revealing the stolen pat of butter. The CEO was right behind him and saw the whole thing. After the meal, the CEO met with the board of directors again and said, “I think we hired the wrong guy.” For a 2-cent pat of butter, a man lost a job that paid over $300,000 a year. How would you act differently if you knew someone was watching you? You know God is watching, whether you are in the high heavens or in the depths of the earth (Psalm 139:8). There is no place where God is not.

Search Me, Oh Lord

When the psalmist prayed for God to search him, he wasn’t talking about his physical presence. He was talking about God helping him to know what was in his heart so that God would reveal it to him (Psalm 139:23). The psalmist knew that we have sins we’re not even aware of because we’re fallen in our nature, so he asked for God’s help to show him the unknown, or hidden, sin in his life (Psalm 19:12). It seemed that the psalmist clearly understood that God was watching everything in his life: his actions, his words, his thoughts, and even his intents (those things he was contemplating doing). If you knew that God was watching you 24/7–and, by the way, He is–what would you do differently?

Pass the Remote, Jesus

I knew a man who struggled with pornography. I told him to tape the word “Jesus” on his remote control, which also controlled his Internet surfing because his Internet was available on his big-screen TV. Every time he reached for the remote, I wanted him to be reminded that Jesus is essentially sitting on the couch right next to him. He is watching what you’re watching. He’s listening to what you’re listening to. He’s hearing what you’re saying in public and in private. And he’s looking at what you’re reading, too. Would you act differently if you knew Jesus was in the room with you? He is.

A Closing Prayer

Father, I know that I have acted sinfully in private and should realize that You know my every thought, word, and deed, as nothing is hidden from You. Please forgive me of my many sins, even the ones I’m not aware of, and in Christ Jesus’ most holy name I pray.

Amen