With Archbishop Samuel Okhisare Risen Life Evangelical Church (Inc)
- “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Prov. 15:3. “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his going.” Job 34:21.
Truly, the eyes of the Lord are able to see everywhere in heaven and on earth. Surely all the activities of human beings going on in the world are known to God. Sometimes, human beings may like to choose a suitable hiding place for their evils to be carried out, but there is not just such a hiding place that the eyes of the Lord cannot see, even if it is in darkness: “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” Job 34:22.
There is no iota of doubt that the eyes of the Lord are in every place. “Wither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or wither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I … dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea… if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light above me… but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” Ps. 139:7-12.
The evil doers often take comfort that they are not seen by anyone when they carry out their crimes in the night. Even those who go out at day time rejoice that they are not caught and never seen in their hiding place. The sins of fornication and adultery continue because people feel they are not seen. But they cannot hide them from God.
2. Little did Achan know that the eyes of the Lord were in every place when he took to himself items of which God commanded Israel not to take to themselves. The eyes of the Lord saw Achan when he was burying those goods for himself. He confessed: “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” Joshua 7:21. The end of Achan with his children was death.
Now let us ask the question: Does the contemporary soldier in Niger still steal? Do some of our soldiers still take to themselves money that belong to government? Were they involved in looting during war time? Are they still accumulating wealth to themselves from government resources and funds? Do some of our people in the army still collect bribes on road check points? Do some of the army officers in Nigeria still carry Nigeria’s money into their bank accounts outside the country? They are being reminded that the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good.
This calls for repentance. There is a severe punishment which awaits those who take advantage of their position to steal the wealth of the nation and convert them into their foreign bank accounts.
3. Untold number of crimes here and there have been committed in our offices by people who have the notion that God is not seeing them while they are in those offices.
Many have left offices at retirement and gone away with very valuable government property undiscovered. Such property could even include cars, buses, refrigerators, air-conditioning equipment, furniture, computers, TV and other numerous items. They are all satisfied that nobody discovered them. But the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. And little does it occur to them that they shall give account of their work on the last day. Yet they hear the message of repentance every day. Yet some occupy the front seats in their places of worship. Yet there are Pastors in their offices and in their neighbourhood. The Scripture is clear: “And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.
It may not be too long; death cometh after which no one can repent: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Heb. 9:27. You no longer allow your mind to deceive you that no one is seeing you in your sins; though those sins with you are many and hidden from men yet you cannot hide them from God, from Jesus Christ.
4 When Zacchaeus realized his sins, he accepted that God knew what he did in the past, including illegal collection of money and revenue to his pocket. He offered to return them in four fold. So, what you have stolen away from office and from your place of work should be returned. Many have returned the books they stole to their owners. Many have returned the books they stole from the library. Many have returned what they stole from their offices and schools because they are convicted in their hearts that the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good.
In our society today, many think that they want to be rich by all means and so plunge themselves into troubles. They are involved in unclean politics and enter into positions where they take away a lot of Government money from the treasury into their accounts. They allow Satan to prevail over them. They are sometimes discovered and forced to pay back that which they had stolen; although many of them are still covered, the eyes of the Lord still see them.
Now, how can we overcome all these evils? First come to Jesus and confess all your sins to him, realizing that he knew it all, realizing that the eyes of the Lord behold the evil and the good. Then surrender your total life to Christ and turn away from all your sins, asking for pardon. You will surely have a new life different from your old sinful life.
