Good Tuesday dear friends. I trust this finds you warm and dry as we awake here in San Marcos to more cold, rainy weather.
We continue to meditate on the Lord's call for us to be real with Him. For today a study in Acts 5 is interesting for it asks us if we're being real with God in all things. Here is the study guide.
Tuesday: In Acts 5:1-11 we find an interesting if not scary story of a married couple who belonged to “The Way.” Read that story and find out what their “un-real” act was. Why would God care about what we do that is “unreal?” Are you thankful that we don’t hear much of that happening now as we know that sometimes we’re unreal with God and ourselves?
The Message's version has it this way: 5:1 But a man named Ananias - his wife, Sapphira, conniving in this with him - sold a piece of land, 2 secretly kept part of the price for himself, and then brought the rest to the apostles and made an offering of it. 3 Peter said, "Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? 4 Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn't lie to men but to God." 5 Ananias, when he heard those words, fell down dead. That put the fear of God into everyone who heard of it. 6 The younger men went right to work and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him. 7 Not more than three hours later, his wife, knowing nothing of what had happened, came in. 8 Peter said, "Tell me, were you given this price for your field?" "Yes," she said, "that price." 9 Peter responded, "What's going on here that you connived to conspire against the Spirit of the Master? The men who buried your husband are at the door, and you're next." 10 No sooner were the words out of his mouth than she also fell down, dead. When the young men returned they found her body. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 By this time the whole church and, in fact, everyone who heard of these things had a healthy respect for God. They knew God was not to be trifled with.
The moral of the story is to have a healthy respect for God, i.e. be real with God. The story is straightforward: People who entered into that first community knew they were to share all or nothing with God and with each other. Such was their faith that they were sharing all. They were not under any obligation to do this, but that was the vow they made. Had they wanted to keep all of their possessions they could have. That was their choice. They hadn't lost their free will. But this couple decides to portray themselves as holy in saying that they sold their land and gave all to God when indeed they kept a part for themselves. They lied about the price and went before God with this lie. The husband hearing that he had been found out dies. Did God kill him? Or did the guilt of his sin cause his heart to give out? The community takes the body out to be buried and when the wife returns she's unaware of what has happened to her husband and she too, is confronted with her lie. The ones who went to bury her husband come to find her body and more work ahead of them. Those who heard of this situation verse eleven tells us "had a healthy respect for God" and knew "God was not to be trifled with."
Are we real in all our dealings with God? Do we honestly think we can hide things from an all-knowing God? Does it do us any good to try and hide things from God? Doesn't the stress caused by guilt bother us physically? Isn't this one of the main points of Jesus' sermon, to be healthy in body, soul, and spirit?
What are you trying to hide?
PRAYER: All-knowing God, thank you for giving us this day to reflect on what we need to do to be real with You. Let us try to hide nothing from You or from even ourselves. Let us be real. Let us seek fulfillment in our relationship with You. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great day!
Blessings!
e.v.
