Do you Trust the Truth?

Ananias and Sapphira Die (Acts 5:1-11)

 ¹ But a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some land.² He kept back part of the money for himself; his wife knew about this and agreed to it. But he brought the rest of the money and gave it to the apostles.³ Peter said, "Ananias, why did you let Satan rule your thoughts to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep for yourself part of the money you received for the land?⁴ Before you sold the land, it belonged to you. And even after you sold it, you could have used the money any way you wanted. Why did you think of doing this? You lied to God, not to us!"^5-6 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. Some young men came in, wrapped up his body, carried it out, and buried it. And everyone who heard about this was filled with fear.  ⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened.⁸ Peter said to her, "Tell me, was the money you got for your field this much?"  Sapphira answered, "Yes, that was the price."  ⁹ Peter said to her, "Why did you and your husband agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out."¹⁰ At that moment Sapphira fell down by his feet and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.¹¹ The whole church and all the others who heard about these things were filled with fear.

Ananias and Sapphira represent just how much humans do not trust the truth. They sold a piece of property and gave half the money to the church. They lied to Peter and the apostles, claiming that the land sold for the amount they gave. Their sin was not holding back some of the money for themselves; it was in misrepresenting the truth. Their deceit resulted in their deaths.

Aren’t we lucky that God doesn’t strike people dead for lying today? I’m not so sure He doesn’t. It seems to me that the wages of deceit is still death. Maybe not death of the body, but death is occurring in marriages, careers, faith, intimacy, trust, peace, credibility and self-respect. But perhaps the most tragic death that occurs from deceit is our witness. 

Dishonesty can affect and infect every aspect of your life. So here’s a question for you to ponder today…In what areas of your life do you need to clear up deceitfulness? Then ask the Holy Spirit to point out any deceitfulness in your life and pray for the courage to remove it from your life.