I received a call today from a friend asking if he could submit my name for a reference. He is hoping for a new position. Giving references is a strange custom. No one in their right mind would submit the name of someone they thought would tell all their sins. We only ask people we believe will make us sound good. While I have never lied while giving a reference I certainly have never told the whole truth just as I would not want my friends to tell the whole truth about me.
All this got me to thinking about asking God for a reference. That would be frightening because He really does know the whole truth. It reminds me of the Santa Claus is Coming to Town song. “He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good. So be good for goodness sake.” Have you ever noted the incongruity of those lyrics? We are supposed to be good because Santa’s watching. However, we should be good for goodness sake. The truth is we should always be good for goodness sake. We should always do the right thing because it is the right thing and not because someone is watching. It is God’s goal for all His children that we should do right even if the heavens fell.
The more I think about it the more I like having God as a reference. He not only forgives. He forgets. He chooses not to remember our sins and as a good Father (Jesus told us to call him Father) He will make us look good. He will not lie for us but He knows the two or three times in our lives when we actually did something good and He will talk about that.
Written by Roger Bothwell on June 17, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org