Articles
When No One Is Looking
When No One Is Looking
Tom Moore
Probably the easiest time for us to be faithful is when we are surrounded by those of “like precious faith” (2 Peter 1:1). When we attend the assembly to worship God, it is easy to be faithful because others around us are faithful. It is easy to do that which everyone around you is doing. The true test of the faithful Christian is: “Are you faithful when no one is looking?” That is to say, “Are we faithful when our Christian peers are not looking?” A true test of a Christian’s dedication is the desire to be faithful when no one else around him is.
Do you remember the story of Joseph, and how he was sold into Egyptian bondage? Joseph had found grace in the eyes of Potiphar, and he put him in charge of his whole house (Genesis 39:4). In the process of time, Potiphar’s wife had been looking on Joseph and desired to have sexual relations with him (Genesis 39:7). She would constantly proposition him, but notice how Joseph reacts to the propositions, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). Joseph could have consented to the proposition and no one would have known. But Joseph was dedicated to God and was going to be faithful even when no one was looking.
Another fine example of faithfulness is seen in the life of Daniel. Daniel, as a young man, was taken into Babylonian captivity, He, among others, were selected to be servants in the king’s palace and were to be fed provisions from the king’s meat and wine. But consider seriously Daniel’s reaction – “Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:8). The food that they were serving, in some way, was unclean according to the law of Moses, and Daniel refused to eat that which would defile his body. Consider this: Daniel was in a strange place, around strange people, and yet, he still had the courage and dedication to be faithful to the Lord. Daniel was young and could have easily given in, for there was no one looking. Daniel did not care who was or was not looking; he was going to be faithful to his God.
Today, we are all going to be confronted with situations similar to that of Joseph’s and Daniel’s. We are going to have to make a choice. Are we going to be faithful, even when no one is looking? When we go on vacation will we take the time to worship God on Sunday – even though no one is looking? Do we ever find ourselves doing wrong, when no one is looking? Do you have secret habits that you engage in only when no one is looking? How do you act, how do you talk, when you are not around your faithful brethren?
Consider these sobering words of Paul. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17), and notice, “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16). Be aware of this, there is One that is always looking, and is always aware of our actions and thoughts – the Almighty God! The Lord declares, “For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes” (Jeremiah 16:17). “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:24). Are you being faithful when no one is looking?
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;” Philippians 2:12
