Friday, November 28, 2008

I saw a great white throne and the one sitting upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I Saw The Dead, Both Great And Small, Standing Before The Throne. Books were opened, and another book was opened, the book of life. The Dead Were Judged On The Basis Of The Things Written In The Books, According To Their Works. Rev. 20:11, 12.

This scene is quite scary on the face of it. Everyone on earth-great and small, rich and poor-will one day be called to account. Nothing ultimately occurs in secret-all things will one day come out into the open. It is a powerful incentive to rihgt living.

What we are talking about here is accountability. Accountability involves allowing others to help you keep watch over yourself. It means never having to face your problems alone. Someone else is there to encourage you and to help keep you straight. God is constantly available for this purpose. But for many people, accountability to God isn't incentive enough. They need a real flesh-and-blood person watching over them.

Such accountability can take many forms. One type is a sharing group, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, which requires everybody to tell the truth and accepts them in their telling of it. A fascinating thing happens in such a group. As you learn to share your faults and struggles openly, you begin to find strength to deal with issues you were unwilling to face before. Knowing that you must give account to the group provides a check against your natural laziness or immoral behavior. As a result, accountability is a great motivator to right living.

Here is a suggestion for the few and the brave. Do you have a hard-nosed friend? Someone you trust, who loves you and cares deeply about you? An individual who would never want to see you hurt? Go to this friend and share with him or her your desire to make changes in your life. Tell the person that you will be completely honest and that you expect honesty in return.

That is scary, isn't it? Well, I couldn't live without it. I have three close friends in addition to my wife (one is White American, one is an African-American, and the third is Hispanic). I know that these three men love me. Trusting in their love, I have given them the right to confront me about my faults anytime they see something negative. Whenever we get together, we have accountability sessions. We go out to eat or take a long walk and open up the deepest recesses of our hearts to each other.

The Bible suggests that nothing can be so precious as the wounds of a friend (see Prov. 27:6). And no friend is so true as the one who loves enough to tell the truth.

Lord, I want to be accountable to You in all things, Use my friends to keep me focused on Your purpose for my life.

God is love. Like rays of light from the sun, love and light and joy flow out from Him to all His creatures. It is His nature to give. His very life is the outflow of unselfish love(TFMB 77).