| Keepin' It Real
Anyone can say keep a smile on his face long
enough to make it through a church service or can manage to respond
respectfully to authority when given instruction. Anyone can put
on a front so that everyone around them would have no reason to
think anything is wrong. However, God knows every thought that person
is thinking and sees what he does when no one else is present to
see. You cannot fool God. No matter how hard you try, He will always
see everything that takes place in your life.
In Acts 5:1-10, we read the story of Ananias
and Sapphira. This husband and wife sold some property and decided
to give a quantity of the money to the church. So far, this sounds
like a good thing to do, right? However, when they took the money,
Peter asked them if the amount they brought was the full price that
the land had been sold for, and they both said that it was. The
fact is they had actually held back some of the money they had earned.
That is where they went wrong. They blatantly lied about what they
were doing, all because it would make them look good in front of
everyone else around. But God knew what had really taken place and
was aware of how much of the money they were actually giving. Because
of their deceitfulness, God instantly struck them both dead.
Just like Ananias and Sapphira, we can fool
anyone around us, but we will never fool God. Everyone at our church
or Christian school can see us and think that everything in our
life is grand and glorious and that we are faithfully living our
lives for the Lord. People can notice our smile and believe we have
joy. The truth is sometimes we’re only putting on a front.
Inside there could be bitterness, a wrong attitude, pride, selfishness,
immorality, or some other sin that needs to be taken care of. Allow
me to remind you today that even though man only looks on your outward
appearance, God most certainly can see what is concealed in your
heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
Is that genuine godliness that people
see when they look at your life? Or is that only what you want people
to think you are? If you are not truly living a godly life for the
Lord, I trust you will begin today!
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