Inspired by Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
“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 far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.” Psalm 139:1-4
“He knows if you’ve been sleeping; he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” So goes a well-known song about Santa Claus, a character who, in popular understanding, shares many aspects with God.
But while the all-seeing and all-knowing jolly old elf uses his powers for reward and punishment, God does not in fact operate that way. It is true, as the psalmist writes, that God knows everything about us, even what we’re going to say before we say it, but he does not use that knowledge against us. Rather, the Lord of all creation knows us because he created us out of love, and there is nothing we need to hide from him.
We don’t need to live in fear and isolation. We don’t need to worry about rejection. There is absolutely nothing about ourselves that would cause God to recoil from us in disgust and loathing if he ‘found out’ about it. There is nothing about us that he doesn’t already know, and he loves us so much that he gave his own Son to die for us. God knows you, and loves you. Let yourself be comforted by the complete and total love of God.
Let us pray. Loving God, you know the worst about each of us, yet you love us anyway. Free us from our isolation and self-loathing, that we may experience the life-changing grace that you offer through your Son. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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