“Avoid”
Let’s talk about sin or the outcome of sin.
When I hear, avoid, my sin and its result come to mind. My heart can’t take it, and the first thing I do is avoid God. Like every child who disobeys, I want to look away and pretend he did not see. In my sin, I am childish, which is why scripture tells about putting aside childish ways.
And like the child in trouble, there is no way to avoid authority.
God knows my rebellious heart just as he knows my obedient heart. What I hope to avoid is already present. He does not sit there with his clipboard of unending bad choices, listing each one as he waves an angry finger. I feel his gaze, and that silence is deafening. Confession both hurts and is freeing, and repentance is critical.
But it’s the love that captures my soul. The mercy and grace of an all-knowing God that says, “Don’t try to avoid me, I already know. I love you.”
I cannot avoid God when I’ve handed my life to him. He lives inside, so hiding anything is impossible. What I do, he knows. What I think, he knows. That truth changes things; it changed me. There is peace and comfort in his presence, even on the days it is unsettling.
Authentic Truths 