He Can't Take His Eyes Off You!

by John Stallings

A land which the Lord thy God careth for; the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Deuteronomy 11:12

Robert Goulet used to sing an old love song called If Ever I Would Leave You. The lyrics talk about not being able to leave his loved one in springtime because the thoughts of the sunlight in her hair were too vivid.

He couldn’t leave in autumn because he’s seen her in autumn and most certainly not in winter because there are those “snow-flakes in her hair” memories. I think you get the picture. I hope so, because I’m getting a little misty here. If you have an ounce of romance in your soul, to hear the song is like having your heart pulled through a knothole.

In this passage in Deuteronomy, this is exactly what Moses is saying to the people of Israel. They’re going to a land that God loves so much that His eyes roam over it constantly – “all year long.” He will never leave them. The Israelites had lived in Egypt for many years, and Moses is telling them that Palestine isn’t at all like Egypt. He’s telling them that here is a land that doesn’t depend so much on the labor of its people as it did on the goodwill of God. It’s a land of hills and valleys, a land of rivers, a land not dependent on irrigation, but rain from heaven.

In many ways it’s a picture of individuals. It’s a picture of the spiritual man and the carnal man.

• The carnal man has no one to look out for him.
• The carnal man has to be his own God.
• The carnal man has many cares and trials he has to handle himself.
• The carnal man lives a life of anxiety, sorrow, aggravation, and disappointment.
• He knows that he must be his own comforter and provider.

However,

• The spiritual man dwells in another country.
• The spiritual man is a citizen of heaven.
• The spiritual man has problems, alright, but they come to him under the supervision of a loving God in order to do him good.
• The spiritual man can cast his care upon the Lord.
• The spiritual man goes day to day knowing that “all things work together for good” in his life.
• God is his guardian and helper, and even in drought, he “lies down in green pastures.”

Ask yourself the question, “IS THERE ANY SEASON YOU COULD BE WITHOUT GOD’S WATCHFUL CARE?•

What about in times of prosperity?

No, no, we wouldn’t want to be without God in prosperity! But you may say, “Well it least I’d be free from worry if my business were prospering.” No, that would be like a wedding without a bridegroom. It would be like a day without light. Do without God in prosperity? A thousand times no. Think how self-centered and self-destructive we’d be. Would you want God to leave you or you leave Him when times were good? You would grow worldly and proud if that happened. We all realize how precarious success is. We realize that without God helping us and protecting us, we’d be on thin ice.

• What about times of adversity?

Could you be without God then? Without God when your heart is breaking? Without God when the waves of trials and tests threaten to take you under? Without God when you have no shelter? Without God when you’re going through a time of sickness? When you’ve just heard the word cancer? No, no, not then. God, don’t leave me then. Could you be without God then? With God, though it may sound strange, we can go through sickness with joyfulness, but without Him, what would we do?

• Can the young Christian be without God?

No matter how full of zeal he may be, can he do without God? No. How can a lamb be without his shepherd? How can a suckling babe be without its mother?

• Maybe the person in midlife can be without God.

No! He’ll be the first to tell you (if he’s wise) that this is his day of battle. The burdens of life and business are so heavy during this time that, without God, a man in midlife would be like a naked person in a barrel of briars and thorns – he can’t make it without God.

• What about the person in the older years of life?

Would they desire to be independent of God? They’ll be the first to tell you that as the weakness of body and problems of aging press in on them, to be without God would almost be sheer hell on earth. When the hair is white from the snows of many winters, that’s no time to be without our tender, loving, and caring friend who sticks closer than a brother.

FOR A MOMENT, LET’S DO THE UNTHINKABLE. LET’S IMAGINE A YEAR WITHOUT GOD.

Imagine a whole year with God not caring for us. Could anything be more horrible? Just think about going through . . .

January’s winter cold, the ice and the freezing weather.

the groaning of spring.

the hot summer months of sweating.

the fainting times of autumn

the times of struggling to the end of the year, and all of this without God to help us.

When God is gone there is

• No prayer
• No hope
• No promise
• We can cry out, but there’s no answer

Just think of this: The moment we pray, God will hear us! At that very moment, Jesus will come.

Since the eyes of God will be on us from the beginning to the end of every year we live, let’s . . .

. . . BE HAPPY
. . . BE FAITHFUL
. . . BE CONTENT
. . . BE GENEROUS
. . . BE INDUSTRIOUS
. . . BE HOPEFUL
. . . ALWAYS BE GROWING IN CHRIST AND LIVING IN THE SPIRITUAL PROMISED LAND BECAUSE . . .



… The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Deuteronomy 11:12



Blessings,


John