Today's Devotion: For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Heb 4:12)

It is pretty obvious that this passage that God knows everything about us, even before we say or think a word or a thought. Even though we can sometimes fool ourselves or our friends, there is no use in trying to fool God.

Today's Comments: It seems like we can only fool ourselves for so long, but there is no way that we can fool God at all. The Bible suggests that God knows everything about us. I tend to agree, especially after the argument that I had this morning with one of our clergy assistants at church. He argues that God only knows the possibility of all outcomes, not necessarily each final outcome, itself. He says that is necessary in order for man to have free choice. I could not agree any less.

To me, it seems like God can look at things from outside the sphere of time (although my friendly clergy assistant disagrees). From a single vantage point, therefore, he can see past, present, and future things, just as if He was looking at a timeline of the history of the universe, from beginning to end and saying, "I want to stop at this particular moment." In my mind, there is nothing that God does not know. And there is nothing that God does not see. or understand about us, even before we act.