When the inspector comes.

When I worked in restaurants, health inspections always cracked me up. At 3:03 on a Tuesday afternoon, the health inspector would come in the front door. By 3:03 and 30 seconds, every employee in the restaurant was aware of the fact and already tidying up the place: spot cleaning, checking for expired or missing labels, etc. By the time he made his way back to the kitchen, it was a completely different restaurant.

Even then, we were always hoping for a couple of basic things to go right: that this person was not going to see everything he could possibly see and that even if he did see some stuff amiss he would grade on the side of generosity because he wields so much power. And keep in mind that this was true even in the best of restaurants. Usually, being prepared, acting quickly, holding your breath, and getting a bit lucky paid off.

If we’re honest, most of us think of God like He’s the cosmic health inspector. We hope we can fool Him by hiding things or quickly cleaning up on short notice. Between the uncertainty and (even worse) the certainty of what He will find, it’s terrifying.

But the reality is that if we have Christ, then even God as the strictest, most despotic health inspector isn’t frightening at all. He will come in with a white glove and no advance warning, but when He looks under every counter and behind every cabinet, He will always grade us 100% clean by the power of our Savior.