Someone's Watching You

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his steps often faltered. The family ate meals together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing eyesight made eating difficult. When he grasped the glass, milk would spill on the tablecloth and peas often rolled off his spoon onto the floor. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the ever increasing mess. “We must do something about dad,” said the son. “I’ve had enough with his spilt milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.” So, the husband and wife set a table in the corner of the room and there grandfather ate alone, while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled some food. The four-year-old watched all this in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with some wood scraps on the floor. “What are you making?” he asked the child. Sweetly and innocently the boy answered, “I’m making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The words so struck the parents that they were speechless, and then tears started to roll down their cheeks. Though no words were spoken, they knew what must be done. That evening, the husband took grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family, and neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, when food hit the floor, or the tablecloth got soiled.

[Hebrews 4:13] “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” All my life I’ve heard the expression, “Practice what you preach!” This saying teaches us to look at ourselves and make sure we are doing those things that we are telling others they need to do. But what if we look at this a little differently? What if I asked, “Can I preach what you practice?” If someone were to follow us all day long, would they be able to preach about the things we practice? It’s a sobering thought for one to stop and contemplate. My life should be so in line with the Scriptures that I should be able to say, just as Paul did, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). But the truth of the matter is, we all have things that we know we need to do differently in our life. We all know that studying the Bible is very important (Deuteronomy 6:5-9), but many of us don’t study as often as we should. So, if someone were to follow us and see that, would you want them to preach that? Absolutely not! We would want them to encourage others to do personal studies and be in God’s Word daily. What about the way we talk? Would we be okay with others encouraging people to talk like us? If I am someone who uses profanity would I want that to be preached about me? I need to be constantly aware of my actions and realize that others are watching me and could emulate the things I do. This should cause us to stop and take a look at our life and do some serious self-evaluation. Even though other can’t see what we do 24/7 doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t live my life as a continual example. Being on our best behavior when others are around is good. Need I remind you – God is looking all the time and sees all that we do.