"Take off the mask"
What good is there to be gained by being dishonest with God? How do we
ever expect to be transformed into His image if we keep doing the same
old thing and we continually cover those things we don't want God to
know about?
The account with Abraham and Sarah is a case in
point. God visited Abraham one day and told him that his wife Sarah was
going to bear him a son. "...now Sarah
was listening... [and] laughed to herself as she thought, 'After I am
worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?' "
Her laughter didn't last long. It caught in her throat when God
overheard it and demanded an explanation. The Bible says, "Sarah was
afraid, so she lied and said, 'I did not laugh.'..."
What
happened? Why was Sarah afraid? The God she knew was humorless. He was
hard, and straight, and intolerant, like a stern grandfather or a
hanging judge. And like many of us, she thought there was only one way
to relate to Him, so she hastily donned her religious face. How we
perceive Him affects everything we do -- how we relate to Him in worship
and service, how we relate to others, and even how we view ourselves.
Christianity is not spending our entire lives in an elaborate
masquerade.
Think for a moment and be honest. Are you natural,
are you really yourself when you approach God, or do you find yourself
reverting to your religious conditioning? Are your prayers
conversational or pious? Formal or friendly? Be real with God, not just
"right" with God.
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