It’s a common gag in tv shows to have a scene where someone is doing something naughty while they are alone, then all of a sudden one of their family members barges into the room unexpectedly and catches them in the act. Then the person that is doing the naughty thing scrambles to hide what they were doing and the canned laughter from the studio audience plays.
This makes us laugh because we all have feared that scenario happening in real life, and many of us have actually had those experiences of being caught in the act. When we think we are alone and no one is looking, our sinful nature drives us to indulge in actions that we would be mortified if anyone witnessed.
SURPRISE!!!! God is right there watching you!!!
Often we are even in a in a room full of people but we are indulging in some sinful thoughts in the privacy of our own mind….
SURPRISE!!! God hears every thought!!!
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10
In our hearts and minds, we constantly deceive ourselves. We act and think like no one knows our secrets. We will indulge idle fantasies, and play out scenarios where we feed our fleshly appetites and passions. We sneak extra cookies from the cookie jar. We fantasize about living lives of luxury and having all the things we covet. We play out scenes of sexual immorality where we pretend that there is some better fulfillment to be had with someone other than our spouse. We seethe in secret anger and plot out our revenge against those who have wronged us. We imagine ourselves being stronger, smarter, or more powerful than we really are. We fuel our appetites, inflate our egos, and we do it all while simultaneously pretending God is not right there observing us.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
Psalm 14:1
Every time we engage in sin, it must start with a denial of the existence and sovereignty of God. We may believe in God, and we may have a correct understanding of theology, and we may be saved. We may have just finished wonderful discussion about the Bible with our fellow christians. Then, in the very next moment, we set all of that aside to pretend God doesn’t exist while we engage in our “secret” thoughts and actions.
This tendency towards self delusion is the very thing that leads us astray again and again. Our very hearts deceive us! And the only way to alleviate this problem is through daily meditation in Gods word.
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. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12-13
We must make a conscious decision to recognize the nature of the spiritual battle we are in. It is a war not just for our outward actions, but for our hearts and minds. It is a war against the practice of atheism in our hearts. Our sinful hearts want to deny the knowledge of God. We want to pretend that we will not be accountable for these things because we didn’t actually do them. The best way to counteract this lie is with a constant flow of truth being fed into our minds.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ
2 corinthians 10:4-5
Meditate on Gods Word! Take every thought captive! Purpose in your heart that you will not defile yourself before God! Remember that God is there in your head, aware of your every thought! And remember that it is only by his grace that your heart can be transformed into something that is pleasing to Him.