Theme: Beyond: Next Level Living, Week Three - Honesty
Read: Acts 5:1-11; Romans 14:10-12
Think: I know we’ve all heard this one, but in light of Pastor Ben’s message this weekend on honesty it’s worth repeating: One sunny day, a group of high school students got together and decided to skip class. The next morning they explained to their teacher that they had missed because their car had a flat tire. To their relief, she smiled and told them they had missed a quiz and she’d let them make it up. She had them sit down and each get out a pen and paper. Her first question was: Which tire was flat?
Oooh to get caught in a lie… painful isn’t it? And so humiliating, makes you cringe even thinking about it. But ultimately that’s every liars end result, because no one gets away with lying. Ever.
Truth is one of the very attributes of God. God IS truth! So when we tell a lie, we insult Him. And sooner or later He uncovers every lie—sometimes in this life, sometimes in the next when we stand before God and give an account of ourselves to Him.
In today’s reading from Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira thought they were lying only to Peter and the other believers. But it is so much more - “You have not lied to men but to God” (v.4). So a simple lie is anything but simple. It’s an affront to God, and for those of us who follow Him there really is no room for it in our lives.
Do: If you have lied to someone, confess it to them and to God. It may be humbling, but it’s the first step to restoring integrity in your life and making your walk with Jesus strong and healthy.
Pray: God, you know when I am tempted to lie… and You know all the times I have lied. Forgive me. Help me to make those wrongs right. If there are situations I need to go back and fix with honesty give me the courage to do so. From this point forward help me to live a life of integrity and live a life of honesty and truth. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.