Be Still And Know

Acts 5:1-2 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. This is a chilling story. Ananias and Sapphira were not obliged to give all the money from their property sale to the apostles, but they lied and said they had done so. They conspired together to trick the apostles and the result was that, when confronted with their lies, they both dropped dead (vv4–10). Given that everything seemed to have been going so well for the infant Church this must have been a shattering moment. No wonder Dr Luke concluded the story by saying that great fear gripped the Church and everyone else who heard what had happened. Lying is always serious. Facing up to what we have done may be painful but massaging the truth for our convenience is always destructive. It undermines trust and a relationship that is built on lies cannot possibly last long. Above all, we