What Life is More Than

"But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?" - Acts 5:1-3

The question Peter asked Ananias was never answered explicitly in the Bible. All we know is that both Ananias and Sapphira died that day. 

".... it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" - Hebrews 9:27

We don't know how, we don't know when, we don't know where. We just know that we will die one die, unless Jesus returns for His Bride before then.

So what was the lie? They said they were going to sell land and give all the proceeds to God for His purposes and the good of others. But then the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life raised their ugly heads and the couple rationalized why it was OK if they reneged - modified their promise - and kept some for themselves. BTW, rationalize can be spelled "Rational Lies". Thing we tell ourselves to convince ourselves that something is OK when it is not. I imagine they thought that they would use the money for their benefit - something more pressing than fulling a promise to God. It was theirs after all! That story reminded me of the man building bigger barns.

"Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' But he said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?' And he said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And he told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.'" - Luke 12:13-21

I think that the man in the parable and Ananias and his wife had the same problem? They laid up treasure for themselves as if they had tomorrow to enjoy it, but they did not. They would never see tomorrow. The Lord required their souls that very day. I had always thought that Ananias and his wife were punished by God for saying one thing and doing another. That they died because they lied. But now I am thinking that it was a timing thing. A correlation of events, two unrelated events that happened to occur at the same time, and not a cause and effect.  No different than the decision of the man building bigger barns.

So what about us? In the United States, I think many might imagine that every country has a retirement plan for its citizens. Not so.  Our retirement goal is to not miss a beat in our budget. You see commercials about it all of the time. The idea that we can continue to live in the comfort that we have become accustomed to when we no longer work. Doesn't everyone have that opportunity? No! We can falsely believe that what the Lord has provided in terms of resources is for our consumption - alone. Nope! The truth is that we have been blessed to be a blessing. 

We have some friends who live by the credo, "We live simply so others can simply live." and they do, although they don't have to. It is a choice they have made in light of the revelation of God. They have chosen not to build bigger barns but to use what God has provided to bless others. What about you?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone