our daily bread

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Dexu Xia

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Aug 21, 2018, 2:38:59 AM8/21/18

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Watchful Care

“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24

Before he raced out the door to school, I asked my son if he had brushed his teeth. Asking again, I reminded him of the importance of telling the truth. Unmoved by my gentle admonishment, he half-jokingly informed me that what I really needed was a security camera in the bathroom. Then I could check for myself if he had brushed his teeth and he wouldn’t be tempted to lie.

While the presence of a security camera may help remind us to follow the rules, there are still places we can go unnoticed or ways we can avoid being seen. Although we may evade or trick a security camera, we fool ourselves if we think we are ever outside the gaze of God.

God asks, “Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” (Jeremiah 23:24). There is both an encouragement and a warning in His question.

The warning is that we cannot hide from God. We can’t outrun or fool Him. Everything we do is visible to Him.

The encouragement is that there is no place on earth or in the heavens where we are outside the watchful care of our heavenly Father. Even when we feel alone, God is with us. No matter where we go today, may the awareness of that truth encourage us to choose obedience to His Word and receive comfort—He watches over us.

Lord Jesus, thank You that there is nowhere I can go that is outside of Your loving gaze. Knowing You see me, help me to honor You with my words and actions.

We are never outside the watchful care of our heavenly Father.

悉心看顾

耶和华说：“我岂不充满天地吗？”-耶利米书23章24节

当儿子正匆忙赶着出门去学校时，我问他有没有刷牙。接着我再问一次，并提醒他说实话的重要性。他竟然对我温柔的警告无动于衷，甚至半开玩笑地对我说：“妈咪，妳应该在浴室装个监视器，看看我到底有没有刷牙，那我也就不敢撒谎了。”

虽然监视器的存在能提醒我们遵守规则，但仍然有些地方并没有装设监视器，或是有方法避免被镜头看到。我们也许可以避开或逃避监视器，但若我们以为自己能躲避上帝的目光，就是在欺骗自己。

上帝曾问道：“人岂能在隐密处藏身，使我看不见他呢？”（耶利米书23章24节）其实这问题包含了激励和警告。

这问题警告我们，无人能在上帝面前有所隐藏。我们无法胜过或欺瞒上帝，我们所做的一切，对祂而言都是显而易见的。

这问题也是激励我们，无论在天上或在地下，没有任何地方会让我们离开天父悉心的看顾。即使我们感到孤单，上帝仍与我们同在。无论我们今天将要前往何处，若能认识这个真理，便能激励我们愿意顺服上帝的话语，并因祂看顾我们而得着安慰。

主耶稣，谢谢祢，无论我身在何处，
都在祢慈爱的看顾中。因祢每时刻都鉴察我，
所以求祢帮助我，能以言语和行动来荣耀祢。