Friday May 25, 2012

Think of all the people that you might have lied to this week.

Make time to ring them or catch up with them to      admit your lies and to ask for their forgiveness.

 

Read Deuteronomy 19: 15-21;  John 8:34-45.

 

Lying is so easy in today’s world. I’m constantly astounded by the lies that people tell. Children are caught in the act of stealing and immediately tell a lie that they didn’t take anything. Teenagers are caught vandalising some else’s property and immediately lie to protect themselves. Adults caught out often lie, telling the judge that their memory of that event fails them. Politicians ... well, let’s not go there!  We seem to lie by our very nature, thinking that crossing our fingers behind our back somehow provides us with immunity from lying. We kid ourselves that white lies are ok and that sometimes it’s better to lie than to tell the truth. What is worse than lying, is lying to defraud someone - lying with intent to gain or benefit from someone else as a result of that lie.

Rest assured that God hates lying. He will call each and every person to account for each and every lie that has been told. Though we think that no one knows the truth when we spin a lie, God certainly does and will not forget our lies.

 

In Israel God commanded that the man who lied to gain from his brother should have done to him what he intended to do. If the man was lying to gain the other’s fields, that person would lose his field. If he was lying to gain some cattle, he would lose his cattle. If he was lying to kill his neighbour, his very life would be taken. It was life for life, eye for eye and tooth for tooth.

 

God hates lying because the evil one is the father of lies. He lied in heaven. He lied to Adam and Eve. He is the father of lies. Every lie emanates from the evil one. Every lie is a concession to the devil. Every lie is the work of satan and part of his plan to discredit God and to bring ruin to His creation.

 

It is imperative that Christians learn to speak the truth to each other in love (Ephesians 4:15). We need to eliminate lying (including white lies, little lies, helpful lies and so) from our repertoire. Rather we need to learn to speak honestly and truthfully to each other in ways that build each other up and not tear each other down. We need to put aside the negatives of playing into satan’s hands and start living and communicating in ways that bring glory, honour and adulation of our Lord and Saviour.

 

Remember the story of Pinocchio? Imagine if you were like that little puppet and your nose grew an inch every time you lied or misrepresented the truth? How long would your nose be at the end of the week?

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray that your congregation would be a congregation that speaks the truth in love to each other. Pray that each and every person would give up any lies they have told and would not resort to lying ever again. Pray that the non believing world would see honesty as a trademark of our Christian churches.

¥ Pray that we would have opportunity to love and serve each other this weekend. Pray that we would all come to our gathering with a heart that yearns to serve and to give and to put each other’s needs above our own. Pray that Jesus would be glorified in all of this.