Open Eyes

“Your eyes are open to all the ways of mortals.” Jeremiah 32:19

Today, Day 176 here at the Dispatch, is Labor Day. I hope your three-day weekend has been filled with blessings thus far! But whatever you’ve been doing, God has been watching you. As a child, I found this notion more than a little disconcerting. Was God like Santa Claus, keeping a running tally of all my moments, both naughty and nice, on some cosmic chalkboard? This was the question at the root of my existential dread when I was eight.

To be sure, God watches over us at all times. And yes, this means that God is keenly aware of our sins. Considering the state of the world, I wouldn’t blame God for looking away. Instead, the Father sends the Son so that, by the Spirit’s power, we may be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. When God looks at us, God sees us as those who have been saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has made us into something worth looking at, people in whom the imago Dei has been restored.

Oh, God sees all the other stuff, too, from the banal to the bad. But God is watching out for us. God will pull us back in when we go astray. Let us, therefore, live lives worth watching. May our faithfulness to Christ and our care for our neighbors open the eyes of those around us to the presence and power of God.

Be well, friends. You are loved.

Seeing God, thank you for watching over us. Your care and protection guard our every step. May we keep our eyes open today, seeking both signs of your presence and opportunities to bless the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Image: I asked Torsten if I could take a picture of him with open eyes. This is how it turned out. We laughed and laughed, but he insisted I use it anyway. What a goofball.