Someone is watching...

I was heading toward the checkout area of Wal Mart. They had a number of cashiers open, which isn't always typical, but it seemed as though all of Winkler was out shopping today and there were line-ups at every check-out that was lit up. I found a smaller line and made my way down the short aisle.

There was a woman who was just paying for her purchases and next in line was a mom and her daughter. The young daughter might have been around 8 or 10 years old and her and her mother were standing close together with their heads down looking at something. By the dresses they were wearing and the dark head covering the mother wore I knew that they were from a very conservative background. They were looking down so intently that they didn't notice me walk up behind them to stand in line with my item. As I got closer I realized that the mother had a US weekly magazine in her hands and she was paging through a story of Prince Harry and Pippa. She turned a page pulled the magazine closer as she intently looked at the pictures in the article. Her daughter hung over her arm staring just as intently at the magazine as her mother quietly turned the pages. I stood behind them not really thinking anything of it and patiently waited as the first woman finished up her purchase.

It was in that moment that the woman holding the magazine realized that the customer in front of her was done and she began to close the magazine. As she was closing the magazine she looked up and saw me standing there. She made some sort of sound with her mouth that sounded like "Tsch..." and with that she quickly placed the magazine back into the rack and said loud enough for me to hear "Trash!"

Her daughter had about the same expression as I had, a little confused and a lot of "What just happened?" She looked at her mother and then she followed her mother's gaze which was directed at me and she quickly dropped her eyes and stepped on the other side of her mother. They wasted no time paying for their purchase and quickly walked out.

I placed my box on the counter and looked back at the 'trashy' magazine and wondered why it was that when the mother didn't think that anyone was watching it was ok for her and her daughter to peruse through this magazine and yet the moment she realized that someone was close enough to see what she was looking at suddenly it had become trash.

As I drove home I kept remembering the look on the mother's face. One moment she's deep in concentration in a magazine that would definitely not be considered proper reading material in her world and in the next moment her demeanor completely changes and "Tsch...trash!"

What changed?

She realized that someone was watching.

Why should that matter?

Someone saw what she was doing.

And the dramatic change in attitude?

Someone could read the same thing she was reading.

Well, maybe not word for word, but the pictures were there, the captions were clear. Was there anything wrong with what she was reading? Not to me, but she knew it went against her own culture, her own beliefs to be seen reading a gossip magazine.

But, don't we often do the same thing? With our faith? There are certain things that we justify watching or reading or even doing. We've done these things whether our children are watching or not and we don't really think twice about it. Oh, there may be times we might experience a twinge from our conscience, but as time passes and we continue on doing what we're doing, we have learned to ignore those twinges. Until we remember that someone else might watching.

Someone?

Really?

Uh huh.

Strange that if we really believe what we profess to believe that we still don't always understand that wherever we are God is there too. Not like some strict parent who is ready to pounce on every little move we make, but He is there...a loving Father...watching everything we do. Noticing the choices we make. Listening to the words coming out of our mouths. Seeing the pictures and stories we are filling our minds with.

Do those things matter to Him?

Absolutely!

Why?

Because, He desires to be a part of our lives, every aspect of our lives, not just some of it, not just when it suits our needs or fulfills our desires. He is here and He longs for us to even remember that He is here, He wants to be noticed, because He is quite literally a part of us...a part of us that we don't always pay attention too.

He's here right now, where I am and where you are, because He is omnipresent. He is everywhere.
When we ask Christ into our hearts, the Spirit comes in to live in us. He doesn't come and go just because we forget that He is ever present. He doesn't float around or fly around willy nilly because He has other places to go or He gets bored. He doesn't cover His eyes or look away because it would make us more comfortable.

He resides in us.

He is an intricate part of us.
He is a part of our being.

However, there are times when we stand with our noses buried in a book like this woman and we truly believe that we can do what we want, we can go against what we believe and it won't harm us and we only get rattled when we think that someone might have seen us.

But, He has already seen us.

Why?

Because He's here all the time.

Why?

Because He cares.

Why?

Because you invited Him in, to be a part of your life.
Oh yeah, that's right!

Now live like it!

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" Galatians 5:25