In 2002, Song Jiang escaped from prison. The Chinese police searched for years, but to no avail. Finally, in September, some 17 years later, they received some clues about Jiang’s possible location. The problem was that it was located in a mountainous area thick with forests. He proved too hard to find in such terrain. Then the police decide to dispatch some drones. They noticed some blue colored steel and debris in a particular stop. The police trekked into the forest to this location and, at long last, found and captured Song Jiang (BBC).

Over time, there have been some incredibly infamous prison escapes. In 1962, three men escaped from Alcatraz, the prison many thought to be impossible to escape from. In 1971, Frank Abagnale, the famous conman, escaped from prison by convincing guards he was an undercover prison inspector. In 1977, convicted murderer James Robert Jones escaped from prison and eluded the police for 37 years thereafter. In 2015, David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped a New York maximum-security correctional facility by making their way into the main duct work and cutting their way out with power tools.

While all of these people, and certainly many others, escaped their punishment for a time, they all have one thing in common – they never eluded God. The Lord wasn’t fooled. The Almighty never lost track of their whereabouts. The Holy One was never, for even a single second, unaware of their thoughts and actions.

Hebrews 4:13 says it plainly, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

While no escaped convict has ever eluded God, let’s not be so quick to point the finger. You’ve never escaped God either. Nor have I.

No one and nothing is hiding from God’s all-seeing eyes. Everything we do, say, and think is open and exposed before our almighty God. There are no secrets. There is no escape. But there will most certainly be a day when we will answer for our deeds (Matthew 25:31-46; 16:27; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; etc).

It’s possible to elude man. It’s not possible to elude God. So we can either face the Lord now, by our free will, and seek His grace and mercy (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 6:1-7; etc), or we can be forced to bow the knee at the judgment (Philippians 2:9-11).

God so badly wants us to turn back to Him. His open, loving arms are waiting to welcome us to Him (Luke 15:20). But they won’t always stay open.

Let’s stop running. Let’s stop hiding. Let’s “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Brett Petrillo