Beloved: I am writing you, although I hope to visit you soon. But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion,
Who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.
Someone is Watching My husband and I have now completed two half marathons. Years ago when we trained, we had our then-seven-year-old-son, Ryley, ride his bicycle along with us. The long runs on weekends ranged from six to 11 miles, so it was a long, boring ride at a pace of six to seven miles per hour. This year, when we decided to do another half marathon, Ryley begged to stay behind. “I’ll practice my piano,” he said. We decided to trust him.
From January to March, we’d go on our long runs and leave Ryley to practice his piano. When we returned, we’d ask how the practice went. “Great!” he’d say, then would detail all the songs he practiced.
April brought the approach to piano recital and a particularly tricky song. Ryley’s progress was slow, so I began to wonder how the practice was really going. Then, one day, when we returned from our run, I noticed the piano bag was still sitting in the same spot as when we’d left. “How did the piano go?” I asked.
“Great!” Ryley answered.
“How come the books are sitting in the same spot?” I asked. Hesitation.
“Umm, because I put them back,” he said.
“Where were they?” I asked.
“On the pew,” he answered, referring to the old church pew that serves as a bench in our entryway. Wrong-o. The piano books had been beneath the mirror.
I asked him to come talk to me and told him I’d noticed the books were not where he said they were, and gave him another chance to tell the truth. “Ryley, God doesn’t like it when we lie,” I said. “Did you really practice?”
“No, Mom, I didn’t practice my piano,” he finally admitted, tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I’m going to give you a chance to tell the truth again,” I said. “How many times have you not practiced while we’ve been out on our long runs?”
“Maybe 30 times.” 30 times! I don’t think we even went on 30 long runs. I told Ryley that he would need to come with us from now on because he had lost our trust. I also shared with him that even when nobody’s watching, we need to do the right thing. Because somebody’s always watching: God. It’s a lesson for all of us.
Prayer: God, help us to remember that even when nobody’s around, you’re always watching. Help us to always do the right thing, even when it seems we won’t get caught. In Jesus’ name, Amen.