There is a growing trend
across the nation of thieves stealing people’s packages off their front porch (which
if you think about it is really foolish, because the thief has no idea what
they are getting). I read where one lady was caught by authorities stealing a
box that contained kitty litter—some prize! Recently, I saw a news item about
how homeowners are using cutting-edge technology to fight back against these
burglars. Tiny security cameras called “smart doorbells” can have their video
feed linked to an I-pad, laptop or phone. When someone is detected at the door
the camera sends an alert to the homeowner and they can pull up the video feed
in real-time.
This happened to one homeowner
in California. He checked his phone while at work and noticed two men disguised
as construction workers trying to pry open the front door. The smart doorbell
allowed the man to talk through his phone and yell at the burglars through a speaker.
“Stop now! You’ve been caught! Cops are on the way!” The burglars didn’t waste
any time making tracks.[1]
In one sense, technology
has allowed us to overcome the limitation of being only at one place at one
time. There have been times when we’ve all wished we could be at more than one
location at a time. This incident reported in the news got me thinking about
one of God’s attributes—His omnipresence, which means that God’s presence is
unlimited. He is everywhere present with His whole being at the same time.
Perhaps no one expressed God’s
omnipresence better than David in Psalm 139, “7 Where shall I go from your
Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you
are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” As finite creatures bound
by the limitations of a physical body, the idea of omnipresence is mind-boggling.
In the beginning, God created space itself (Gen. 1:1), so it follows that He is
transcendent over it. Yet, the Bible says that at the same time He is also imminent.
There is no place He is not. As the writer of Hebrews says, “He upholds the
universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3).
The omnipresence of God is
a double-edged sword. It is comforting to know that Christ’s presence is always
with us, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
However, it’s also convicting to know that this holy God sees us at our worst
times, especially when we are giving into temptation and living in disobedient
sin. Just like those burglars who were caught in the act, God knows and sees
and speaks when we are making a wrong move.
He came looking for Adam
and Eve in the garden after they ate the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:8). He caught
Jonah running away from his calling to go preach to the city of Nineveh. In response
God sent a great wind to rock the boat Jonah was in and a great fish to swallow
him up (Jonah 1:4, 17). Likewise, when Achan hid stolen treasure from Jericho
under his tent, God revealed it (Josh. 7). And when David thought he gotten
away with adultery and murder, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to let the king
know that God caught him red-handed (2 Sam. 12).
When it comes to God’s
ever-present nearness you can’t have it just one way. You can’t have Him near
for comfort and not for conviction. We ought, then, to meditate on the
ever-present God when facing temptation in life. It could be the one thought
that provides a way of escape from the sin crouching at the door. Because He is
there, when tempted we shouldn’t flee from Him, but to Him.
-DM
[1]
<https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/homeowner-yells-doorbell-stop-potential-burglars-58971637>
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