What are you trying to hide? (John 4:16-26)

One of God's attributes is that of omniscience.  While we like to give a nod of our heads to this attribute, most of us don't live life according to a proper understanding of this attribute.  What do I mean?  If you've been to a church longer than 5 minutes, you'll notice something that is quite bothersome.  Our churches tend to be full of people that "have it all together."  As one of my new friends has pointed out, one of the most frustrating things about church is that time and again he feels like he's the only one in the place that is a mess!  I can feel his pain as I often have experienced the same thing.  I once even cried aloud in a public place during a men's group meeting "Am I the ONLY ONE who's screwed up here?!"  I wasn't trying to be a drama queen, I was just sick and tired of the shiny-plastic faces and the shallowness of the whole thing.  Everything felt so superficial.  I didn't want that, I wanted real, warts and all!  What we can see from the woman at the well in John's gospel in chapter 4, real is the very thing Jesus wants from us.

Jesus asks the woman to go and fetch her husband, knowing full well she wasn't married.  What was her response?  "I have no husband." (John 4:17).  Interesting.  I guess we can say it's only natural that a person in her position wouldn't exactly open up to a stranger (especially a Jew) about her life story, but she certainly didn't disclose the whole truth here, did she?  She was hiding the fact that she is shacking up with a guy that's not her husband and this isn't her first boyfriend.  She was trying to hide her shame from Jesus, but being God incarnate, she couldn't hide anything.

Isn't this precisely what we often do?  We walk a certain way, we talk a certain way, but our reality can be quite different from what we want to show others.  Maybe it's due to the fact we haven't addressed our issues yet, or even more telling, we don't know how!  So the solution is to cover them up and pretend that our world is all good.  We don't like to think of ourselves as sinners, so we deny our issues, or downplay their importance.  

The problem with this of course is that God can see everything.  We cannot hide anything from Him, and anyone who tries to deny or cover up sin is unable to come to God.  The first step in coming to Christ is having the acute understanding of our issues and that we need His help.  This is called repentance.  If we don't repent, if we can't admit to ourselves and to others of our shortcomings, then we are also unable to come to Him.

So the question is "What are you trying to hide?"  God can see everything, just like He showed the woman at the well.  He strips away your self-righteousness and lays bare your life (Heb. 4:13).  You can do this now unto the path of salvation, or you can do so after death, unto eternal damnation.  One way or another, the day is coming where you will give an account.  Best to do so now.