School is out! Summer break is here! As a matter of fact, Summer is a little less than a month away. Things start to get a little (understatement… a LOT) busy for the church. We have end of school events, a children’s camp as well as a youth camp, the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, two national holidays and Vacation Bible School. I’m tired just writing about this.

But, with the upcoming camps, every year we have to make sure our adult sponsors who are going have a background check. The camps require it, and we have adopted it as well as a policy for our church. The report is for the safety of the kids we take and all the other kids attending the camps. Over the years (this is not a new policy, been around a few years) I have used a couple of different agencies to perform this task. Some are free, some cost a minimal fee, and some can be quite expensive. We check mostly for any felonies, arrests or sexual misconduct charges. I used a new one this year and wow! I got quite a surprise and education.

The first one I submitted was on myself. It took about 15 minutes to comprise all the material. After the report was compiled, I downloaded and printed out a copy… all 31 pages. You see, this report compiled my addresses since I graduated high school and moved out on my own. I had no idea I had moved so much. It recorded my employment history since my Safeway days. If that were not enough, it listed phone numbers I have had, houses I had bought and how much each sold for.

In this report it listed family relations of parents, siblings, children and even likely or possible associates I might have or have had! It even knew my social media history, e-mail accounts, financial history (bankruptcies, foreclosures, evictions, liens or judgements), educational background and even licenses I had (hunting, fishing, conceal carry).

And, yes, of course, they did have a section for criminal history. This part was pretty vague as I do not have a criminal history…no arrest, convictions, incarcerations (jail time), outstanding warrants, DUI’s or even a speeding ticket (pretty sure all that is a good thing).

I was just amazed at the fact that I could find so much about myself in such a short amount of time and all through the stroke of a set of keys on a computer. It was interesting going back and seeing parts of my life that I had forgotten over the past 40+ years. And the report was very accurate. The only thing I could dispute was some possible acquaintances and phone numbers.

As usual, this got me to thinking. God keeps a record of our lives, also. And our lives (works) will be revealed. For believers, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, and for unbelievers it will be the Great White Throne of Judgement in Revelation 20:11-12.

I think of how I felt reading the background report on myself for the last 40+ years laughing at some of it while remembering back at some of the not so pleasant things other parts revealed. Then I pondered at what it will be like when I stand before God and my life is revealed… all of it. I thought this background check was comprehensive, what will my life’s revelation in front of God be like?

Much like the background check, I am sure there will be the comical, the “what was I thinking?” and the hard and the sad stuff as well. There will also be some things I wish were not revealed as shame and embarrassment will undoubtedly prevail.

The background check holds us accountable for our actions and with the right (or wrong) information, it can have severe consequences (keep me from being a camp sponsor or even Preacher!). Our actions as believers and non-believers will one day come up, and we will be held accountable, also.

What I have discovered is no information is really secret. My life (and yours too) is an open book available to be seen on the internet somehow by somebody with the right access code or permission (sometime without permission) to view. We may think it is a secret and no one knows, but it is not. The same is true with God. He knows it all and has it recorded, also.

So let us live our lives in a fashion that if someone were to check out our background, we would come out clean. And remember that one day we will see it all with God, so try to live a Godly life! (Titus 2:12 & 1 Peter 1:15-16) Bro. Tim