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Verse:The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. —Proverbs 15:3, NIV
One of the most famous art thefts ever took place at the Musée du Louvre, in Paris, on August 21, 1911. None other than the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, was stolen by a museum employee and kept in his apartment for more than two years. It was a major disaster for that early sixteenth-century painting, considered “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world.”39 It was returned to the Louvre in January 1914.
People appreciate the smile of the woman in the Mona Lisa as well as the artistic effect that makes her eyes follow you wherever you go.
Perhaps the most famous and widely known Adventist painting is The Christ of the Narrow Way mural by Elfred Lee, on permanent display at the Ellen G. White Estate Visitor Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Dedicated on October 22, 1991, the painting is a pictorial representation of Ellen White’s first vision, enhanced with depictions of crucial and historic Seventh-day Adventist moments and several influential leaders.
At the center of the mural is Christ standing with open arms.
As with the Mona Lisa, His eyes also follow you wherever you go. I once asked Elfred Lee about the secret to achieving that effect.
He told me that if the eyes are well painted, it happens naturally. The ever-watching eyes in both the Mona Lisa and The Christ of the Narrow Way remind us that “the eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good” (Proverbs 15:3, NIV). There is a stark contrast between those who claim, “The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land” (Ezekiel 8:12) and those who realize the futility of hiding. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, 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 (Psalm 139:7–10). What would you change in your life if you were constantly aware that God is beholding you? Remember, you can hide from others, but not from yourself or God.
Never lose sight of God’s abiding presence.