Today’s message
Read and reflect
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Sometimes I genuinely wonder: who exactly are we trying to impress with our lies, pretence, and carefully manufactured appearances?
People? The church? Our families? Or God?
Because if it is God, then we have chosen the wrong audience for pretence. You cannot successfully perform before the One who already knows the script you are trying to hide.
Adam and Eve sinned, and something interesting happened.
They did not immediately look for God.
They looked for leaves.
They had broken fellowship, but their immediate concern was appearance. They were spiritually wounded, yet they started a tailoring business!
Humanity had just fallen, and the first project after the Fall was fashion design.
Instead of confronting the sin, they concentrated on covering the evidence.
Unfortunately, many of us are still graduates of Adam's School of Fig-Leaf Management.
OUR FIG LEAVES HAVE CHANGED
We may no longer sew literal leaves together.
We sew excuses.
We sew religious titles.
We sew carefully edited testimonies.
We sew public spirituality.
We sew, “Everybody is doing it.”
We sew, “God understands.”
We sew, “Nobody is perfect.”
And whenever somebody gets too close to the truth, we quickly add another leaf!
Some people have become so skilled at covering their weaknesses that if pretending were a spiritual gift, they would already be General Overseers of the International Ministry of Fig Leaves.
We can shout “Hallelujah!” while bitterness lives comfortably inside us.
We can preach forgiveness while keeping a detailed archive of everybody who offended us since 2007.
We condemn publicly what we secretly entertain privately.
And sometimes, we are more concerned about people discovering our sin than God delivering us from it.
That is the tragedy.
WHEN REPUTATION BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT THAN REPENTANCE
There is a dangerous point where protecting your reputation becomes more important than repairing your relationship with God.
You stop asking:
“Lord, how can I become better?”
And start asking:
“How can I make sure nobody finds out?”
One lie then needs another lie for security. The second requires a third for reinforcement.
Before long, you are operating a full-time construction company just to maintain something that one sincere confession could have demolished.
GOD ALREADY KNOWS
When God came into the garden, He asked Adam:
“Where art thou?” — Genesis 3:9
God was not looking for Adam's GPS location.
He was confronting his spiritual condition.
In other words:
“Adam, look at where your choices have brought you.”
And perhaps God is asking somebody the same question today:
Where are you—really?
Not where people think you are.
Not where your title says you are.
Not where your church position suggests you are.
Not where your social-media profile presents you to be.
Where are you when nobody is watching?
Sometimes an uncomfortable truth is more merciful than a comfortable lie.
STOP BLAMING EVERYBODY
When God confronted Adam, Adam blamed Eve.
Eve blamed the serpent.
And humanity has been forwarding responsibility ever since.
“My spouse caused it.”
“My parents made me this way.”
“My friends influenced me.”
“My pastor disappointed me.”
“The devil made me do it.”
Sometimes, even the devil may want to protest:
“Please, leave me out of this particular one!”
Spiritual maturity begins when you can stand before God and simply say:
“Lord, I was wrong.”
No press conference.
No long explanation.
No blame transfer.
Just truth.
GRACE BEGINS WHERE PRETENCE ENDS
Here is the beautiful part:
God already knows.
He saw what happened before you prepared your explanation.
He knows the mistake, the weakness, the secret struggle and the hidden wound.
Yet He still calls:
“Where are you?”
Not merely to condemn you, but to bring you out of hiding.
David eventually stopped sewing fig leaves and prayed:
«“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
— Psalm 51:10»
That is where restoration begins.
There is freedom in truth.
There is healing in confession.
There is restoration in repentance.
Sometimes I genuinely wonder: who exactly are we trying to impress with our lies, pretence, and carefully manufactured appearances?
People? The church? Our families? Or God?
Because if it is God, then we have chosen the wrong audience for pretence. You cannot successfully perform before the One who already knows the script you are trying to hide.
Adam and Eve sinned, and something interesting happened.
They did not immediately look for God.
They looked for leaves.
They had broken fellowship, but their immediate concern was appearance. They were spiritually wounded, yet they started a tailoring business!
Humanity had just fallen, and the first project after the Fall was fashion design.
Instead of confronting the sin, they concentrated on covering the evidence.
Unfortunately, many of us are still graduates of Adam's School of Fig-Leaf Management.
OUR FIG LEAVES HAVE CHANGED
We may no longer sew literal leaves together.
We sew excuses.
We sew religious titles.
We sew carefully edited testimonies.
We sew public spirituality.
We sew, “Everybody is doing it.”
We sew, “God understands.”
We sew, “Nobody is perfect.”
And whenever somebody gets too close to the truth, we quickly add another leaf!
Some people have become so skilled at covering their weaknesses that if pretending were a spiritual gift, they would already be General Overseers of the International Ministry of Fig Leaves.
We can shout “Hallelujah!” while bitterness lives comfortably inside us.
We can preach forgiveness while keeping a detailed archive of everybody who offended us since 2007.
We condemn publicly what we secretly entertain privately.
And sometimes, we are more concerned about people discovering our sin than God delivering us from it.
That is the tragedy.
WHEN REPUTATION BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT THAN REPENTANCE
There is a dangerous point where protecting your reputation becomes more important than repairing your relationship with God.
You stop asking:
“Lord, how can I become better?”
And start asking:
“How can I make sure nobody finds out?”
One lie then needs another lie for security. The second requires a third for reinforcement.
Before long, you are operating a full-time construction company just to maintain something that one sincere confession could have demolished.
GOD ALREADY KNOWS
When God came into the garden, He asked Adam:
“Where art thou?” — Genesis 3:9
God was not looking for Adam's GPS location.
He was confronting his spiritual condition.
In other words:
“Adam, look at where your choices have brought you.”
And perhaps God is asking somebody the same question today:
Where are you—really?
Not where people think you are.
Not where your title says you are.
Not where your church position suggests you are.
Not where your social-media profile presents you to be.
Where are you when nobody is watching?
Sometimes an uncomfortable truth is more merciful than a comfortable lie.
STOP BLAMING EVERYBODY
When God confronted Adam, Adam blamed Eve.
Eve blamed the serpent.
And humanity has been forwarding responsibility ever since.
“My spouse caused it.”
“My parents made me this way.”
“My friends influenced me.”
“My pastor disappointed me.”
“The devil made me do it.”
Sometimes, even the devil may want to protest:
“Please, leave me out of this particular one!”
Spiritual maturity begins when you can stand before God and simply say:
“Lord, I was wrong.”
No press conference.
No long explanation.
No blame transfer.
Just truth.
GRACE BEGINS WHERE PRETENCE ENDS
Here is the beautiful part:
God already knows.
He saw what happened before you prepared your explanation.
He knows the mistake, the weakness, the secret struggle and the hidden wound.
Yet He still calls:
“Where are you?”
Not merely to condemn you, but to bring you out of hiding.
David eventually stopped sewing fig leaves and prayed:
«“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
— Psalm 51:10»
That is where restoration begins.
There is freedom in truth.
There is healing in confession.
There is restoration in repentance.
Reflection
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Perhaps your greatest problem is no longer what you did.
Perhaps it is what you are presently doing to avoid admitting what you did.
Pretending is exhausting.
Maintaining two lives consumes enormous energy.
Stop sewing.
Stop hiding.
Stop blaming.
Stop performing.
Come out from behind the tree.
You cannot heal what you insist on hiding, and you cannot genuinely repent of what you are still determined to defend.
MORAL LESSON
Character is not what we successfully make people believe about us.
Character is who we truly are when there is nothing left to hide behind.
Christianity is not the art of looking perfect. It is the courage to walk honestly before a perfect God while continually allowing His grace to correct, cleanse and transform us.
Perhaps your greatest problem is no longer what you did.
Perhaps it is what you are presently doing to avoid admitting what you did.
Pretending is exhausting.
Maintaining two lives consumes enormous energy.
Stop sewing.
Stop hiding.
Stop blaming.
Stop performing.
Come out from behind the tree.
You cannot heal what you insist on hiding, and you cannot genuinely repent of what you are still determined to defend.
MORAL LESSON
Character is not what we successfully make people believe about us.
Character is who we truly are when there is nothing left to hide behind.
Christianity is not the art of looking perfect. It is the courage to walk honestly before a perfect God while continually allowing His grace to correct, cleanse and transform us.
Prayer
PRAYER POINTS
1. Father, give me the courage to confront the truth about myself without excuses, in Jesus' name.
2. Lord, expose every fig leaf of pretence, hypocrisy and self-deception in my life.
3. Father, deliver me from protecting my reputation at the expense of genuine repentance.
4. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
5. Lord, give me grace to come out of hiding and walk genuinely before You.
FINAL WORD
The fig leaves may fool people, but they cannot fool God.
Stop spending your strength covering what grace is willing to cleanse.
Sometimes the beginning of deliverance is simply having enough courage to say:
“Lord, I have stopped pretending. Here I am.”
Your brother,
Prophet Abiodun Adesida PhD
CAC Ibudo Ona Abayo
08058140045
1. Father, give me the courage to confront the truth about myself without excuses, in Jesus' name.
2. Lord, expose every fig leaf of pretence, hypocrisy and self-deception in my life.
3. Father, deliver me from protecting my reputation at the expense of genuine repentance.
4. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
5. Lord, give me grace to come out of hiding and walk genuinely before You.
FINAL WORD
The fig leaves may fool people, but they cannot fool God.
Stop spending your strength covering what grace is willing to cleanse.
Sometimes the beginning of deliverance is simply having enough courage to say:
“Lord, I have stopped pretending. Here I am.”
Your brother,
Prophet Abiodun Adesida PhD
CAC Ibudo Ona Abayo
08058140045