Skip to main content

Naked Time

When our children were just a year or so old, almost every bath was followed by a little bit of "naked time."  This usually consisted of running up and down the halls, squealing at the top of their lungs, and playing the obligatory game of chase with mom or dad as we attempted to pinch those cute little baby bottoms.  Most parents have probably played a similar game.  It's just part of being a parent.  Without any kind of shame or hesitancy, the small child will squeal with delight as they run throughout the house, completely exposed to whomever might be watching.  No fear.  No shame.  No problems.

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 139 about the knowledge God has of us: God knew us before we were born, knows every inch of our being, including our thoughts, and He knows what tomorrow holds for us, as well.  Interestingly, even though we have a Heavenly Father that knows us in our nakedness, we often convince ourselves that we are managing to hide certain aspects of our lives from Him.  This could not be further from the truth.

There simply is no part of our lives that God is not aware of.  If you think about it, our lives before God are always going to be "naked time."  He sees through every physical barrier we attempt to erect.  He sees our good, our bad, and everything in between.  The difference then becomes how we choose to react.  Do we squeal and rejoice with excitement when we realize that our Heavenly Father knows us, sees us, cares for us, and watches our every move? Or, do we shamefully hide ourselves, attempting to keep from Him that which He already knows.

How foolish we are to believe that we can keep from Him what was His in the first place.  Rather than trying to hide ourselves, consider the joy that can be had from living our lives in such a way that we have nothing to hide.  Can we truly enjoy the nakedness of our lives when we are living in a way that is holy and pleasing to God?  I think so.  There is nowhere we can go to flee from the presence of God, so instead of attempting to flee, rejoice in the presence and rejoice in Him.  Live a life that is truly pleasing to God.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em

 I did not grow up throwing punches with schoolmates or with siblings. I did not experience violence in my home as a child. I was never encouraged to throw the first punch, or any punch for that matter. My memories of physical altercations with another person are limited to one specific instance from my junior high years, and the result of my choosing to resort to throwing a punch was not entirely positive. Yes, I did "solve" my problem on one hand, but I created new problems on the other.  There is certainly a culture that exists in our world that promotes violence as the answer to solving problems. I have a 5 and 7 year old - believe me, some people think that hitting is the only way to fix something. But outside of child's play and sibling bickering, there is a much more damaging culture that promotes "fixing" whatever problem one might have by exerting physical prowess or at least the threat of exertion. It is not limited to one section of culture or even so...

The Captivity of Fear

Fear holds you captive. By this, I mean that when we are afraid, it holds us in a restricted position. What we could have possibly done, we can do no longer, or at least not to the original potential. My wife sometimes shares a story of fear that she has related to the abnormally large cockroaches that we would sometimes encounter when we lived in Hawaii. Truthfully, they were water bugs, but their similarity to a cockroach was remarkable, especially in a dimly lit situation. On one occasion, a water bug had taken up residence in a door frame that she needed to pass through, but the mere fact that it was in that door frame was nearly enough to keep her from going through. She eventually mustered up the gumption and ran through the door. Her fear nearly kept her from doing what she needed to do, even though that particular task was not necessarily a noble one. In comparison, the prophet Jeremiah was given a task by God to warn Israel of the coming judgment of God. The judgment was roote...

One Heart

I have the privilege of being a part of a wonderful team of pastors and leaders from the MVNU Region who are doing the hard work of preparing for the '24-'27 PALCON cycle. PALCON is the Preachers and Leaders Conference, hosted regionally at different educational institutions around the United States on a three-year cycle. As we begin this next cycle in June of 2024, MVNU will be the first host site for PALCON.  Wednesday evening and Thursday of this past week, I spent time with pastors and leaders who are, for the most part, in the trenches and around the tables, leading in local and district ministry for the Church of the Nazarene. Here are my takeaways from this time together. Pastors are tired. They were tired before 2020, but COVID and the sundry of challenges that it brought have certainly made an impact in many ministries (not all). This sense of tired has been heightened by a significant number of church members and attendees either falling away completely or shifting to...