Smile! You're on Camera!
Posted by: forthright <forthright@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
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Say cheese! This shot will be a good one.
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COLUMN: Thankful
Smile! You're on Camera!
by A. A. Neale
After Ben Moore of Cincinnati had more than
$30,000 worth of goods stolen from a building he
owned, he'd had enough. He and his partner
researched options and set up Citywatch.com, an e-
surveillance monitoring system using cameras
controlled by the Internet.
After installation, police made six arrests in one
day.*
Various rights groups have questioned the use of
cameras in public places, but many residents in
high-crime areas welcome them. The jury still is
out, but the perception is that these one-eyed
watchmen deter crime and can provide evidence when
a crime is committed.
The God of all the earth does a tad better than
that. The Psalmist says "his eyes watch the
nations," so the rebellious had better not think
about rising up against him (Psa. 66:7, NKJV).
Indeed, "the eyes of the LORD are in every place,
Keeping watch on the evil and the good" (Prov.
15:3).
There is no place, no one, no hour, that the Lord
does not see. What a sobering thought!
To him who wants to do evil, such verses are a
warning. That old idea of repressive religions
that God is watching you and will get you the
minute you step over the line isn't too far off --
when we're talking about the wicked. The Bible
uses the symbol of the eyes of God watching the
wicked to assure everyone, good and evil, that
retribution will be quick and sure.
We may be sure that the very worst thing we can do
is to "provoke the eyes of His glory" because of
our tongue and doings (Isa. 3:8).
The eyes of the Lord also shoo us away from
temptation. To the adulterous eyes, Solomon warns,
in an extensive passage about the immoral woman,
not to give in to lust, "For the ways of man are
before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all
his paths" (Prov. 5:21).
The Good Book also speaks of the eyes of God on
the righteous to say that he never forgets his
people. Here, eyes mean care, as in Moses'
declaration that the Lord would bless the promised
land, "a land for which the LORD your God cares;
the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it,
from the beginning of the year to the very end of
the year" (Deut. 11:12).
"The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those
who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them
from the earth."
Psalm 34:15, 16
Peter quotes this verse in 1 Pet. 3:12 to remind
us that we may suffer for the sake of
righteousness and still preach the Good News of
the Cross because the Lord is watching out for us.
Nothing gets by the Lord unnoticed. He sees the
evil rampant in the world. And his eyes take in
with tenderness and love the struggles and service
of the righteous. This wonderful truth was well
expressed by Civilla D. Martin:
Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely,
And long for Heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He;
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
That God's eye is upon those of us who do
righteously is indeed a truth to encourage, sustain,
and bless.
__________
*Liza Porteus, "Cincinnati Residents Try High-Tech
Crime Stopping," 15 July 2003, FoxNews.com,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91885,00.html
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