If intent counted, every Christian would be walking in the perfection of the Lord. The more difficult path is standing in truth when reality gets in the way of our promises to God.
We kneel, feel the move of the Spirit, and we promise to double our tithe to the church. Then the car sputters, and the cost is beyond our reach. Where does our extra contribution go, toward the offering plate, or into our car?
Ouch, that hurts!
We see our neighbor leaving early to ferry the elderly to the morning service, and we want to feel the same respect. We volunteer, and we feel good about it. Then the baby is awake through the night, we hit the snooze repeatedly, and we call the church saying we just can’t fulfill our commitment this Sunday.
Oh, my, but we’ve done that!
Ananias and Sapphira watched their fellow church members giving generously to the Lord. How the church responded with gratitude and respect! Ananias and Sapphira wanted in on the glory. Yet, they couldn’t quite follow through on their commitment.
Acts 5:3 gives us Peter’s response to Ananias’ broken promise:
“But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”
Ananias and his wife had sold some property and pretended to give it all to the church. The money belonged to Ananias and his wife. God hadn’t demanded it from them. They could have kept it all.
It was deception that became the problem. God punished Ananias for lying through his teeth. When his wife came in and said the same, she also faced God’s judgement.
Let’s let our promises to God be true and honest. Let’s let our yes be yes and our no be no. Let’s not put God to the test, for he will someday reach the end of his patience with his creation.
God is love, but he is also righteousness. If we test him, he will be true to his nature. When we speak truth and we follow through on our words, God will reward us for our honesty before him.
We are transparent before God, so we might as well fess up in the first place.
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Code: FGO.E.16.16d.vp.kjv