Pastor Jim Alblas
Pioneer Christian Reformed Church
3110 17 Mile Rd, Cedar Springs

I’ve started to notice here in Cedar Springs that there are certain signs that have started to appear all over town, and maybe you have seen them, too. I’ve generally seen them at main intersections but they appear in other places as well. The signs are usually bright colored and often have just two things on them; a symbol and a word. The symbol is an arrow and the word is “Sale.” Obviously, I’m talking about garage sale signs. Garage Sales, Lawn Sales, Yard Sales, whatever you want to call them, their popping up all over town.  When it comes to garage sale signs many people become like human radars. We can spot them from a mile away and our eyes become like eagles looking at the details of the sign. “That one’s a Barn Sale!”  “This one’s a Rummage Sale!” “And look, a multi-family sale!!”  There’s something about garage sales that many people love. Finding a treasure at a low price is always enticing. I think my mother-in-law really started to like me when she found out that I like garage sales just like her. She even said I was her favorite son in law…although I’m her only son in law.  And not only do these garage sale signs point us in the direction of good deals, but they usually indicate that winter won’t be coming back for a while. And so we love garage sales and we love noticing those garage sale signs.
In the same way, when we think about God, we come to realize how much it is that he notices us. We are on His radar, His eyes are like a hawk’s fixated on us. Sometimes when we have something on our mind or if we are driving a little too quickly, we may miss one of those garage sale signs, but God never misses what we are doing. And sometimes we may see a garage sale sign, but decide we aren’t interested in checking it out, but God is always interested in us. My favorite Psalm to read that describes how God is watching us is in Psalm 121. There we find out that not only does He notice us, but He cares about us. It’s a passage loaded with the many ways that God watches and watches over us.  It says He never slumbers or sleeps; He is always on the job looking out for us. It says He watches over our life; from the womb to the tomb, God has His eyes on us. It says He’s our shade at our right hand; when life gets troublesome, He protects us. And it says He won’t let our foot slip; which doesn’t mean we won’t ever get hurt, but that we are never out of His grasp. When we think about that, we realize that God is watching us very carefully, He is very concerned about us and that is encouraging.
But I think when we realize that, we must also realize another thing. Just as God watches us, we too, must watch God. We need to be on the lookout for what God is doing in this town, country and world. By looking to see what God is doing, we learn more about who He is and we can better join in with what He is doing.  But the key is that we must keep our eyes on God with the same intensity that God keeps His eyes on us. Remember Psalm 121, He watches us intently! How have we been watching what God is doing?  Are we reading His word daily, to see what He has done in the past and what He desires for us today? Are we looking at what God is doing right now in the lives of people around us and around the world? Are we keeping an eye out for what God will do next? Or are we just keeping an eye out for those garage sale signs?
In a society where we have up to the minute knowledge on sports scores, grocery store sales and facebook statuses, are we up to the minute on what God is doing? My word of encouragement to you is that when we are watching what God is doing, we find some wonderful blessings. We can be a benefit to others when we know what God is doing in their lives, because we can come alongside that work. We can benefit ourselves because when we are watching God we will notice things we hadn’t noticed before and they will bring us joy. And when we are watching God closely, we become closer to Him. Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  Let’s keep our eyes on the Lord!