Jun 8 – 2 Samuel 13 Acts 4:23-37, Acts 5:1-11 Psalm 71:9-18
Acts 5:10-11
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Here’s a story that raises eyebrows. Ananias and Sapphira both die because of what they give.
What’s going on here?
Nobody HAD to sell what they owned – it was a choice. God wants our giving to be cheerful. But this couple thought that they could get away with lying to God. They thought that God wouldn’t notice that they held back…
They are asked – openly and they lied. They lied to Peter and more importantly they lied to God.
It’s severe, but the church would have been very much warned. I can’t imagine anybody else trying this after witnessing this event – and in the early days of the church if they had succeeded in lying it could have undermined the apostles and caused a rot in the church right at the start.
But here’s a question for you… if this still happened, if Christians dropped down dead for lying to God, or for hypocrisy would you still be here?
Thank God He doesn’t deal with us like that… but at the same time, let’s watch we don’t fall in to this attitude.
Ps 71:14
As for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
The world may fall into despair – the world may wonder what the future has in store. But as for me, I will always have hope. I will always trust Him.
What an attitude.
When things get tough, I will praise Him more and more. When life seems to be going wrong, I will praise Him even more.
Amazing attitude. One we would do well to have.
