The table was kind of full, so I slid down against the wall and invited little girls to come say their Bible verses to me on the floor. “Can you help me learn this verse?” asked one girl, after she plopped down next to me.
“Of course,” I said. “Well, the first place to start is to make sure you really understand the verse. That makes it a lot easier to remember.”
So we read Psalm 139:2:
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
“This verse is talking about you, too.” I said. “Did you know God knows that you’re sitting here in Awana right now? And he knows when you get up? He knows what you’re thinking?”
“And,” she said, “He knows when I read a book under the covers with a flashlight until midnight?”
“You do not!” I said, feigning a horrified expression. (She didn’t know anything about my personal life, and I chose to keep it at that.) “Does your mom know you read half the night?”
“No,” she said. Her turn at horrified. “You won’t tell her, will you?” I raised my eyebrows in a light-hearted threat. We had a good laugh, and probably she could sense we were kindred spirits. I was the one who grew up saying, “Please, just one more chapter?” And do you think that librarian mom of mine had much of a backbone in that situation?
I went home thinking about the book I had just published: Blameless: Living a Life Free from Guilt And Shame. Every chapter in this book is my confession of life under the covers with a flashlight, hoping no one would see. I have written about the places in my life where I know I’ve done things wrong, and I’ve wished no one could see and especially God.
But there stands Psalm 139:2 in front of me and in front of you. God does see. He sees everything, even the stuff our moms don’t know about. And what do we do with the guilt of these hidden sins?
That’s where the word “blameless” comes in. It’s a powerful word, and one day I discovered that this has always been God’s intention for us. Yes, he sees everything, but he also forgives everything. More than that, he helps make us better women, one day at a time, so that we no longer have to grab a flashlight and hide ourselves under the covers. He cleans us up and makes us new, so that we don’t have to feel guilty or ashamed anymore.
So what are you trying to hide from God? Will you get comfortable with the fact that he sees when you sit down and when you get up? He knows everything, including every guilty thought you’ve ever had, and he still loves you. He is waiting to make you blameless.
{Christy Fitzwater}
Christy Fitzwater is a pastor’s wife living at the foot of Glacier National Park, in Kalispell, Montana. She and her husband have raised a son and daughter, and they are now enjoying a life of impulsive dating and sharing the good news of Christ together. As a Bible teacher and writer for two decades, Christy works to help people know and understand who God is. Find her devotional writing and Bible-teaching newsletters at christyfitzwater.com.
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