He is Secret...

Another attribute to praise... one I didn't expect...

This morning's reading through tells me...

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God,

but the things that are revealed belong to us

and to our children forever, that we may do

all the words of the law. ..."

Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV

A little later... in preparation for leading prayer... I ask Him... How do we praise You today...?

Secret... comes to mind...

I argue a bit... The secret things belong to You... Yes... but You are not secret... are You...?

After all...

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1 ESV

For what can be known about God is plain to them,

because God has shown it to them. For his invisible

attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,

have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation

of the world, in the things that have been made.

Romans 1:19-20 ESV

I go about my day... waiting for a different answer to... How do we praise You today...?

No other answer comes... but the time to prepare does... so I sit...

Resigned... I say... Show me how You are Secret...

secret... adjective... 1 a: kept from knowledge or view: hidden b: marked by the habit of discretion: closemouthed c: working with hidden aims or methods: undercover... d: not acknowledged: unavowed... e: conducted in secret 2: remote from human frequentation or notice: secluded 3: revealed only to the initiated: esoteric 4: designed to elude observation or detection...

---Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed.)

The Hebrew... from the morning's read... means... hidden...

The Greek... translated secret... according to Louw-Nida means... in secret... privately...

I realize... for most of the world... He is secret... hidden... undercover...

Why does He hide Himself... secretly... away from the world...?

For one... if He showed up... those not yet in Christ would be destroyed...

For another... without faith... it is impossible to please Him...

There is a Way into the Secret... His name is Jesus... and He is no secret...

Jesus tells us His Father is in secret... and sees what's done in secret...

Secret prayers... secret fasting... these things please the Father... because He longs for a private... secret... intimate... relationship with you...

But this does not mean we keep what He shares with us in secret...

Some things Yes... but others No...

We are to share the Good News of a secret God with others... because our God is big enough to have a secret... private... relationship with everyone on the planet... and He desires it...!

He is a secret too good to keep to one's self...

We are to encourage others to begin their own secret relationship with Him... the journey of discipleship...

Yes... as weird as it seems... the God who reveals Himself through creation... is a Secret Hidden Treasure... waiting to be found...

"... You will seek me and find me,

when you seek me with all your heart. ..."

---the Lord

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV