TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Greetings TMI and AARON'S BEARD partners and friends;
In Luke 12:3, Jesus declares "what you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs" (NIV). Often when we hear such lessons taught by our Lord we are inclined to think that He is only speaking of the revealing or publicizing of our sin. At some level this may be true for the unrepentant, habitual sinner. However, we must not dismiss the fact that God is not interested in remembering and exposing our sin. Rather, His concern is for our deliverance from sin and its penalty. Perhaps this text is going beyond that discussion to let us know that who and what we are in private will show up in our public life. Our private thoughts, attitudes, imaginations, language and habits of the smallest detail will, in one form or another, show up in our public life. In the life of Christ we can rest assured that who He was in private, is who He was in public. Anything else is hypocrisy. All have sinned and therefore all have played the hypocritical role. However, spiritual growth and integrity demands our giving attention to those private details so they do not negatively reflect the Christ we serve publicly. In other words, the negative gossip or foul language used in private may never be spoken publicly but the attitude or mind set that spawned such talk will be revealed in spite of one's attempt to hide it. Private does not just imply time alone with someone else but includes when its you alone. The careless way someone may discard something clogging their nose when no one is around will be reflected in a callous disregard for others space in public. You get the picture. Who and what you are with your family, children, peers, handling of finances, etc., in private will be seen by others in public. Why was Jesus so powerful in teaching, preaching, miracles, healings in public? Because He spent significant time in prayer in private. Often He would leave the crowd, go to a solitary place to pray. Be consistent. Strive to improve yourself, not just in the big things like money, education, position and so on. But, even more so, strive for excellence of character in the small private things and the Lord in whose eyes day and night are the same, will exalt you in due season.

(adapted from "Whispers in the Night" by Dr. B. A. Beard, 2009)