I started pondering a phrase the other day while I was running, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head.  That phrase is coram Deo, which is Latin for before the face of God.  I’ve seen and heard coram Deo many times in the past, but I’ve never stopped to really reflect on the meaning and the majesty of those two words.

How often do we start our days by “spending time with God” “coming into His presence” and then walking away and forgetting what David penned in the 139th Psalm?  He writes:

Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.  If I say,”Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

The fact of the matter is, we don’t enter and leave the presence of God; we can’t escape Him.  Wherever we are, He is there. He is aware of every word, thought and deed.  In a very real sense, we are always before the face of God.  His eye is always upon us.

How different would our lives be if we lived in this great reality moment by moment?  How much more would we notice our sin and despise it?  How much more would we yearn to be holy as He is holy?  How much more would we strive for righteousness?  How much more would we be aware of His love?   His mercy?  His grace?  How much more closely would we watch our actions and pause before speaking rashly?  How much more would we serve and love one another when we realize that we are ever before the face of the One who defines love?  The answer is, I think, quite a bit.

The call is this, brothers and sisters, live coram Deo.  Reflect on this truth and rejoice that our God will never leave us or foresake us.  He lovingly invites us to spend our existence before His all-glorious face.