Verse
of the day: Genesis 20:2 Now
Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And
Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
Apparently,
Abraham did not learn his lesson from his interaction with Pharaoh when he went
into Egypt, outside of God’s will and plan for him, during the famine (Gen
12:10-20). Here, once again, even though he now appears to be where God wants
him to be, he still resorts to his own devices in order to avoid the
possibility of being harmed because of Sarah’s beauty. The choice he makes here
to “save” himself is to tell a “half-truth”. Sarah was in fact his half-sister,
but more than that, she was his wife (v. 12). Today we are reminded that a lie
of any sort is never a good thing to be utilized by a Christian, regardless of
the circumstances. Whether we tell a “half-truth” or a “little white lie”, it
is still a lie. Sadly, lying is one of those “acceptable” sins within the body
of Christ; and this ought not to be so when we realize that God hates that sin
as much as He hates murder, adultery, or stealing. We may categorize and
minimize certain sins in comparison to others, but to God sin is sin, and Jesus
went to the cross because of all sin. In Leviticus 19:11, under moral law, the
verse reads, ‘You
shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. In Psalm 119:163,
the Lord tells us that He hates and abhors lying. Proverbs 12:22 tells us that
lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. When we choose to lie, we choose to
act like the devil, which Jesus referred to as the father of lies in John 8:44,
when He rebuked the Pharisees. The Apostle Paul commanded us, in Colossians
3:9, not to lie to one another, since we have taken off the old self in Christ.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, King Solomon listed seven things God hates; among them are
pride, murder, divisiveness, and twice he lists lying. Is there any doubt that
God hates it when we choose to lie? The born again believer who calls
himself/herself a child of God should be known for being honest to a fault. In
this chapter we see that Abraham’s, and Sarah’s, lie affected Abimelech, and
his house. Although he acted innocently, based on what he was told, his actions
yielded great consequences, as God closed the all the wombs of Abimelech’s
house (v. 18). One of the saddest, and most embarrassing, moments in the life
of a Christian is when someone, especially an unsaved person who we are called
to lead to Christ, calls us on the carpet for being dishonest with our words. A
Christian does not honor the Name of Christ by having the reputation of being a
liar. Although God intervened on Abraham’s and Sarah’s behalf, they still
received a rebuke from Abimelech (v. 9-16). Sadly, not only were they rebuked,
but their sinful behavior was revealed to the servants of Abimelech’s house (v.
8). Being dishonest, and failing to resist the temptation to tell lies, even
“little white lies”, can destroy our testimony before the unsaved, and cause
others, even our brothers and sisters, to not trust us. This is not the
testimony or reputation that a Christian should have in the world, where we are
supposed to be representing Jesus; even giving our word that we will do
something for someone, knowing that we have no intention of carrying it out, is
dishonest, and lying. Let us be a people who are known for our honesty, and
trustworthiness. Let us be a people who others will trust, and take us at our
word, simply because we refuse to be deceptive with our words at all times.
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