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Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
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encouragement in things that matter |
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Seriously
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Ananias and Sapphira were a husband and a wife in the early church who sold some property. The monies they received from the sale were given in part to the apostles, and in part, kept for themselves. Sounds fair, but there is a problem. In giving to the apostles, Ananias and Sapphira together planned to lie about the proportion they were giving. Bad choice. As each followed through with their choice, they each met the same fate. God’s discipline for their choice brought immediate death. The Scripture passage that relates their story is also very clear that how much they gave was not the problem, but God was displeased with their lie. Why did they lie? Although pride and selfishness may have entered in, neither Ananias nor Sapphira took God seriously.
Thankfully, God is far more likely today to extend His patience in our areas of sin as believers, than His discipline. But He does want us to take the instructions and the principles of His Word seriously, and God does still discipline His children when we willfully continue in our own stubborn ways. Consider some of the areas we tend to get complacent about. Often in our relationships we hold onto grudges and expectations. In our finances, we fail to see that everything we have belongs to Him, and our spending and then our worrying, reflect our attitude. In so many of our choices, we think first of ourselves. Our priorities, the way we dress, our leisure activities, the commitments we fail to keep, our careless words, the expressions and liberties we take with our sexuality – these may be more likely to reflect self and the values of our society than the principles of God’s Word. "Rights" and "happiness" dominate the pursuits of many – but is that God’s way? Pride in a job well done may be good, but pride that fails to boast in the cross of Christ and the sufficiency of God is sin.
I don’t advocate a legalism that makes us look polished and religious – Christ Himself condemned the same in the Pharisees. I do advocate an awareness of the truths of God’s Word, especially truth that affects our choices and our character development. I do advocate a quietness that listens to the whisperings of God’s Spirit, and responds to them, rather than ignoring them. Change always needs to come first from within – in our thinking, in our beliefs, in our attitudes, in our desires, and in our will. Such change must be taken seriously. God takes all of this seriously enough that not only does He offer "a better way," but He also promises to create the "want-to" in us, and give the ability to change, if we take Him seriously.
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— Bev |
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