Have you ever heard it said, “You can run, but you cannot hide?” Of course you have! That proved to be the case with Ahab, one of the wicked kings of the Northern Nation of Israel. Elijah prophesied that his death would come in battle and that dog’s would drink his blood.
Ahab disguised himself as a common soldier as they went to battle. He was afraid that he would be the target if he dressed in his royal robes as was customary. His attempt to hide in the fray worked. Although the enemy soldiers had been instructed to seek him out and kill him, his disguise fooled them all. But them, an unnamed Syrian archer, shot a random arrow into the fray and struck the king. The text says, it hit the only unprotected spot in his armor, and sunk into his torso. The text says that his blood flowed from the wound and covered the floor of his chariot. Finally we read, “So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood…?according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.”
I will often wear a disguise. I get up in the morning. I shower off the dirt. I shave off the whiskers. I comb the hair. I put on deodorant. I do it for myself. I do it for the sake of my image in the community. I do it for those I work with. I do it for those beside me. But I don’t do it for God. God knows me! He knows every wart! He knows every aspect of me, physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally and every other way you can image. I cannot hide who I really am from God. He knows everything about me. But, I’m afraid I’m often running and trying to hide in more subtle ways. I’m especially running from what matters most to God.
God’s greatest desire is for us to love Him and to love each other. Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 13. It is the most important thing. He says, when it’s all said and done only “…faith, hope and love abide…but the greatest of these is love.” Do I love the way God wants me to or am I hiding the truth of who I really am, hoping others won’t recognize the true hidden selfishness dominating my every waking moment? In this same passage, Paul says, “…now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Like Ahab, I might be able to hide from others, but I can’t hide from God. He knows!
Chuck
“But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another.” 1 Thessalonians 4:9