The United State Constitution contains amendments listing our rights as citizens, commonly called the Bill of Rights. The Fourth Amendment protects our privacy from government search and seizure without a warrant showing probable cause. Our homes and businesses are therefore secure from government intrusion unless there is sufficient reason to believe we are breaking the law. These are the original “safe spaces” from the prying eyes of our government. (Of course the Constitution was written before social media gave us the opportunity to expose our private lives for the entire world, including government agencies, to see.)
God gives us no such protection from His prying eyes. There are no safe places where we can hide our thoughts and actions from God. Proverbs 15:3 tells us, “The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.” We are under the constant surveillance of our Creator and He doesn’t need probable cause of sin. If you are still not convinced, here are God’s own words to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:24), “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”
There is a secular song we hear around Christmas time each year that is titled “Santa Claus is coming to town”. Have you ever thought that the words of that song should really be, “You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout, I’m telling you why. Jesus Christ is coming again. He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” Of course the problem is we can’t really be good on our own. We have inherited the sinful nature of Adam. We must first accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as our only hope of freedom from our sinful nature. The blood Jesus shed for us then covers our sins and we really can be good in God’s sight through the righteousness of His Son and not our own.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, we no longer need to frantically and futilely seek a place to hide our nakedness and disobedience from God, as Adam and Eve did. We can instead give thanks that His watchful eyes are always on us and His Holy Spirit guides our every step along the path He has chosen for us. Praise God for His divine surveillance!