“You are being watched,” is written underneath the picture I am looking at just now in our local paper, The Northland Age, Thursday, December 11, 2014. On the image you can see two people fitting a camera at Kaitaia’s Z service station.

But we are not only being watched by state of the art CCTV systems.

The Bible tells us in Second Chronicles 16:9:

“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD RUN TO AND FRO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH, TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG IN THE BEHALF OF THOSE OF THEM WHOSE HEART IS PERFECT.”

Read also first Corinthians 28:9; Psalm 94:11; Daniel 2:20 and Job 42:2.

All those verses teach us that God has all knowledge, that nothing is hidden from Him.

With other words God is omniscient.

OMNISCIENCE is only one of God’s natural attributes. He is also omnipresent (He is present everywhere at the same time) and omnipotent (He possesses all power).

An attribute is a quality, property or unique characteristic of something.

People who know and believe that they are being watched by the eyes of the Lord, do not really care that they are being watched by high definition, highly visible CCTV equipment to deter would-be robbers. They are obedient to the commandment which says, “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)

Churches are for sale all over New Zealand. (Northern News, December 10, 2014)

A parish council chairwoman says that:

—  “Christian worshippers on a  regular basis are dwindling.”

—  “we are almost a third-world country when it comes to Christianity.”

—  “we need to minister to ourselves instead of sending people overseas.”

This church in Cambridge in NZ is now a coffee shop

In the article I am reading that there is one church for sale in Whangarei. It used to be an Exclusive Brethren church, before it became a funeral parlour. The building has a commercial kitchen and a walk-in chiller.

“Latest Statistics New Zealand census figures show the number of New Zealanders who affiliate with a religion has dropped 5.5 per cent since 2006, a trend reflected in any area except Auckland, which had a 1.2 per cent increase in the number of religious residents.”

But let us always remember that the church is not a building, the church is the people.