Being raised in a Christian home, I was taught the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, righteousness and sin. I thank God for that upbringing, from which I never strayed, and because of which I have been spared the shame of many of the sins that often plague youth.

When I was a junior in high school, I had made a number of acquaintances and began to spend time with them. These young people were not believers and were, therefore, often mischievous.

I recall one particular Friday night, I had decided to stay over a classmate’s house who lived on the same street as I. That night, we went out to a local park where many youth were gathered. The public parks were closed at dusk, but that didn’t stop kids from meeting there. There were maybe 100 or so teenagers there that night. I saw some drinking going on, and heard that there were drugs there as well, but our little group was not involved in either of those things.

Suddenly, the cops showed up and everyone scattered. My friend and I ended up with a different small group of teens that the one we originally arrived with, and the evening continued.

We basically walked around for a while, and eventually came to the convenience store near my house. We went in, and I purchased a Honey Bun. When we left, the kids with me showed me their jackets full of "spoils" from the store. I was incensed that I had been used as a decoy while they robbed the store. I was disappointed and relieved to end the "night out," and get back to my friend’s house.

Early Saturday morning, around 7:00 a.m., my friend’s phone rang. It was my mother. She demanded that I come home right away. I pleaded with her that I had had a late night and that it was still quite early, and that I would come home a bit later, but she insisted.

When I arrived at home, mother was at the kitchen table and asked me to sit down opposite her. She proceeded to tell me a dream she had had that night. In the dream, she saw me with a group of youngsters. She saw us go into a park where others were drinking and smoking, although she was aware that we were not involved. She saw the cops come and the kids scatter. Then she saw me with some other kids go into a store where, although I was innocent, those with me raided the shelves.

After she had told the dream, I sat there with my mouth wide open and said, "Mom, you’ve just described last night." Mother went on to show me that God was always watching, and that He wanted me to be ever aware of this and to behave myself accordingly. That is a lesson I have never forgotten.

Jesus said that His Father "seeth in secret." (Matt. 6:1-8) Again God, through the prophet Jeremiah, said, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

The great prophet Moses also learned that nothing goes unseen. When he came upon an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, the Bible records, "And he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand." (Ex. 2:11-12) Moses was very careful to make sure that no one was watching before he proceeded to kill the Egyptian. Nevertheless, "when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, ‘Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?’ And he said, ‘Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian?’ And Moses feared, and said, ‘Surely this thing is known.’ " (Ex. 2:13-14)

Jesus said, "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." (Luke 8:17) Recently, we saw the emergence of a new Christian fad in paraphernalia bearing the slogan, "What Would Jesus Do?" or "W.W.J.D.?" Although a catchy slogan, that is not enough of itself. We must, at all times, live a life that is pleasing to Christ.

Not long ago, this subject came up in my Sunday School class. A couple of my students indicated that ofttimes temptation was greater than they could overcome. I asked them whether they would have been more able to be victorious over the temptation, had their parents been in the room with them at the time. Their answer was, invariably, "Yes." Why? Because they felt that, under the scrutiny of the parents, they would be immediately caught, and would be swiftly rebuked.