I was reading Proverbs 24 this morning. When I got to verse 12 it gave me pause. Anyone that knows me has at one time or another heard me claim, “Ignorance is Bliss!” I don’t know why I never saw this particular warning before, but all the times I’ve read through Proverbs it never spoke to me like it did this morning. Here’s what it says:
Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and He sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.” Proverbs 24:12 NLT
This is a terrifying reality and, at the same time, an amazing comfort to me.
God, who made me, knows me better than I will ever know myself. I used to work with broken people. We were constantly asking ourselves, “Why am I always surprised when broken people do broken things?” God knows all the places I’ve been broken in this life. He also knows everything He’s done to restore me. So if I claim my old state of brokenness as an excuse, He knows I knew better. There will be consequences, reaping and sowing… He teaches that all through His Word.
He also tells me here that He guards my soul. The Creator of the Universe, the One who made me holds my soul close and guards it. My soul, the essence of who I am, the part of me that is eternal and will be with Him forever, is safe because He guards it. That truly comforts me.
