HONESTY

Acts 5: 1 – 11



My parents were a little weird. They told me many things (wise sayings) that we won't go into here, but one that stands out for me was when my father told me,
“You don't go to jail for robbing a bank.” “You go to jail for being caught robbing a bank.”
Kind of a twisted way to look at crime and punishment, but as I said, the folks were a little weird.
If we look around today, I'll bet we will find that most adults will confess to some small bit of larceny. Maybe they were in need of some staples at home and took them from the office. Perhaps a cashier gave them back the wrong change by accident, that was to their advantage, they went away smiling to themselves for the few dollars they just “earned,” or what my folks would refer to as “found money.”
There are so many examples of honest people doing dishonest things thinking that it's okay.
After all nobody got hurt, and the little things that they got away with will never be noticed, or at least, nobody will be able to point the finger of blame at them.

1 But a man named Ananias—his wife, Sapphira, conniving in this with him—sold a piece of land,
2 secretly kept part of the price for himself, and then brought the rest to the apostles and made an offering of it.
3 Peter said, "Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field?
4 Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn’t lie to men but to God."

When we commit these little criminal acts, we really are lieing to God.
Sin is sin no matter how we look at it, and God will show us the consequences of our actions.

5 Ananias, when he heard those words, fell down dead. That put the fear of God into everyone who heard of it.
6 The younger men went right to work and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him.

My advice would be to ignore the advice that my father gave me and follow the advice that God gives us all.
Live a life of honesty.
Show others that living for God, by example, is the way to go.




I love you guys.