Words of the Master (Part 2) — Shadows and Light Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Words of the Master (Part 2) -- Shadows and Light ----------------------- Date: 8/28/1999 Keywords: "concealed" "hidden" "known" "revealed" "reward" "secret" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passages: Matthew 6:3-4 and 10:26* 3. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4. so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  ... 26. "So do not be afraid of them (men who persecute you). There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. Questions 1. Who knows, besides yourself, about your struggles with Net porn?   2. What kinds of things do you like people to know about you?    Practical help In these words, Jesus proclaimed that there are no secrets from God. The first scripture was spoken to try to dispel man's tendency to boast and brag when he's doing good. The second one was to try to embolden him against the powers of darkness that make him want to hide. That sounds a little conflicted -- on the one hand we're not supposed to make a big deal about our good works, and on the other hand, we're not supposed to be afraid to speak out about our faith in the face of persecution. How do you resolve that conflict? It comes down to this: when you're speaking out, is it to call attention to yourself or to God and his glory? When you're silent, is it to avoid your own embarrassment, or to prevent your being elevated in the eyes of men? We tend to get it backwards. We love people to hear about us when we're doing well, and we hate it when they find out that we're backsliding. These words of Jesus remind us that there's one whose knowledge of us is complete and eternal. If we think we can hide in the shadows, we're fooling ourselves. If we think that while we're engrossed in the computer screen with the door closed, it's a private act that hurts nobody else, we're gravely mistaken. While you're fighting back the urge to look at indecent materials, imagine this scene: You're at your performance appraisal. Only your boss is God. And he's got not only a short list of the highlights of the year, he's got the whole shebang, your entire life spread out before him. The session has been scheduled from 9:00 AM to ... well, to eternity. He knows it all, and he's got the time to go over it with you. You keep glancing at your watch, but it never seems to move. You shift uncomfortably in your chair as he starts going through the records of your Microsoft Explorer sessions. Your stomach does a flip when you learn that he's got not only the data that you left on your hard drive, he's got all the data that you erased from your hard drive. Sound awful? Well, it would be, except for one thing -- the blood of Christ. Now's your chance to set it straight. God is merciful, and he will close up that folder if you'll only stop trying to persuade him that it didn't really happen that way, and cast all your cares on him. To learn how, click here. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 1999 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.