Naked & Unashamed
“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13, ESV).
It’s the morning of the big test. Oh, no! You haven’t studied. How could you have forgotten to study for such an important test? It doesn’t matter; it’s time to get to school. You grab your backpack and your coat and you run out of your house. As you burst through the door of your school into the main hallway, everyone stops and stares at you: other students with eyes wide in surprise; your friends with their mouths open in shock; teachers with eyes narrowed in disapproval; the janitor with his broom suspended in the air...EVERYONE IS STARING. That’s when you realize that you ran out of your house without pants. Or shoes, but no one is noticing your bare feet. With a gasp of horror you are thrust out of your dream and you wake up in your bed with a glaze of sweat on your forehead.
For a majority of people in our culture, being in public without a full set of clothes on would be humiliating. Our societal rules of decency dictate that everyone should cover their bodies. It can be very unnerving to read that all of us “are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Let’s start to uncover (pun definitely intended) why this should bring you hope, not give you the hee-bee-jee-bees.
“…no creature is hidden from his sight…”
God sees you. God sees your family. He knows when you cry and when you laugh, when you seethe with anger and when you glow with love. God sees you and He cares (more on that later).
“…all are naked and exposed…”
What God is concerned about exposing is not your body, but your heart. Your heart is stripped of all your happy facades and all of the walls you put up to keep people unaware of its true condition. Everything about you, even the things you do not know about yourself, are all out in the open for God to see. David captured the meaning of this in Psalm 139 when he said, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.” (vs 1-4, NLT). For a Christian this is so comforting because when you cannot find the words for your prayer, God knows what’s in your heart; and when you are confessing your sin you know that God already knows all about it and has loved you anyway.
“…we must give account.”
You can ignore it or deny it all you want to, but the fact will not change that we will someday have to give an account of our deeds to God (Romans 14:12, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Revelation 20:12,13). For everyone who has ever lived or will ever live, the just judgment for our deeds is “guilty” with the sentence of eternal death under the wrath of God. For the Christian, Jesus has covered their sin with His righteousness and He endured the wrath of God on their behalf. Even if giving an account before God doesn’t frighten us, it might not comfort us, per se. But if you look a little deeper, you see the sweet truth that I mentioned before – GOD CARES. He cares about your heart, so He takes the time to lay it bare and examine its contents. When He finds your sinful heart wanting, He pursues you with His lovingkindness and saves you. And when you stand to give account for your life, He will receive praise and glory for having pardoned you from your sentence of death through Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, reread Hebrews 4:13 above. Instead of coiling back in shame, bow down and cry out with gratitude. God knows you deeply and He cares. Your heart is free to be naked and unashamed.
Questions to discuss as a family:
1. What is an embarrassing experience that you’ve had? What do you think God thought about that experience?
2. Read Psalm 139 together. What is your favorite part of that Psalm? Why?
