The Futility of Deceit

You can run but you can’t hide. Nowhere and in nothing is this more true than with God. The froward and frivolous of today are the broken and lowly of tomorrow. You can hide behind deceit, be it playfully or maliciously, but my friend you are not hidden from the eyes of God: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3). Not only does the Lord SEE all things at all times, but “His judgments are in all the earth” (Psm. 105:7). God is continually judging the affairs of men with perfectly righteous judgment, and in those judgments he is continually trying to turn all men to humble faith in his lovingkindness and mercy. It is not God’s desire to see anyone suffer hurt, but often that is the only way he can get someone’s attention long enough to teach them something about the value and necessity of obeying his will for their own good (Lam. 3:32,33; Rev. 3:19). David, through knowledge gained from his own experiences humbly wrote in the Psalms; “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psm. 119:67). The apostle Paul also understood the blessedness of correction from the Lord: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Heb. 12:6-8). So often it happens that God in his vast and holy love brings down the pride and foolishness of his people, and of all men for that matter; and the whole purpose of it is missed by those who are afflicted. The scripture says truly that “God is love,” and when he judges the pride and negligence of anyone, it is WITH love and with the desire to bless them and save them (I Jn. 4:8; Heb. 12:10,11). But if we miss the point, and God keeps his love upon us, the result is a recycling of the pride, the chastening, and the missed point (Amos 4:9). And the result of that is someone feeling that “things just never work out right.” The Lord said through Jeremiah regarding his people; “They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return” (Jer. 8:5). There simply is no substitute for plain, humble, honesty of heart; and for calling things exactly like they are with a right spirit. Do you want to impress God? Just be honest with yourself, and speak accordingly with humility (Psm. 15:2; Prov. 22:11). It takes so much more effort of mind and spirit to be deceitful, even if you are doing so in a lighthearted manner; and it truly is not worth the effort. Pride and deceit may appear to be a useful vehicle of evasion and self-gain at the moment, but that vehicle is surely headed for a wreck (Prov. 16:18). God will never bless pride and deceit, nor will he save those who are given to it (Psm. 101:7; Rev. 21:27). And that sobering reality is the motive of our concluding scripture: “Now therefore FEAR the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth” (Josh. 24:14). Amen