Today I was reading chapter 13 of Daniel, the story of Susanna, one of my favorites: Daniel 13
The verse that really struck me today was about the attitude of the men that accused Susanna:
vs. 8-9 When the old men saw her enter every day for her walk, they began to lust for her. They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments.
They not only started to feel things that could lead them to sin, but they encouraged those feelings in themselves. Now lust is not what I am dealing with but I know that I have done this myself.
I remember once when my younger sister was about two. My mom told her not to play with something; I don’t remember what it was. But my sister took that toy and went and sat behind a folding chair and started to do just what my mom had told her not to do. The folding chair was blocking my sister’s view of my mom, but of course we could still see everything that she was doing. My mom pointed out to me that she thought we couldn’t see her because she couldn’t see us. Many toddlers behave this way. If you play hide and seek with a very young child, sometimes they will just close their eyes and think they are hiding. Only because they can’t see you.
I think we can be like this with God. The verse said “They would not allow their eyes to look to Heaven” Since these men were no longer looking to God (and couldn’t see Him) they behaved in a manner as if He couldn’t see them either. God is not the Celestial policeman, but He is looking out for us because he has better things in mind for us.
Lord, help me to keep my eyes on you and not direct them at other things intentionally or accidentally. Amen.
I recently heard someone say that when she was living a life she knew wasn’t right with God, she felt unworthy to pray. She didn’t want to give up her lifestyle, but she still felt an urge to talk to God, and when she did, she’d squash it because she knew her life was displeasing to Him.
When I read that quote in your post, I wondered if that wasn’t the cause: they knew they were doing something displeasing to God, so they turned their eyes away from a sense of unworthiness and couldn’t be just because if they did that, they’d have to look at themselves first.
Just my two cents, worth what you paid for it. 😉 I like your interpretation — but I think there’s room for both.
There is definitely room for both. And I think that both can be happening at the same time in a person. Because part of the behavior that I was describing in my sister involves removing yourself from the person in charge. And I see it in my kids too: one of them would tell me, “Dont’ see me!” when he was doing something wrong. It is that same shame and defensiveness that started in the Garden in the beginning.