Today we’ll read Deuteronomy chapter 19, Acts chapter 5, and Psalm 65 , from the Easy To Read Version.

READING

May God bless the reading of His Word.

Wow, so what’s the deal with Ananias and Sapphira? You know how people always say that the God of the Old Testament is an angry, unforgiving God? And the New Testament is all about grace? So what’s up with this story?

The folks who only want to see the grace of God miss a very important characteristic of who He is. He is a God of holiness and righteousness. Here in Acts, we are looking at the first days of the New Testament church. You might think of it as an infant taking its first breaths.

And here in these first few moments of its life, there were those who were willing to lie to God. The issue was not the money that Ananias and Sapphira gave or did not give. As Peter said, the land and the money they got for selling the land was theirs. It was their right to do with it what they wanted. But they lied when they said that they gave the entire proceeds of the sale, when in fact they held some back. And it wasn’t Peter they lied to, it was the Holy Spirit. It was God. And that is where God draws the line. And He had to establish in those first moments of the infant church’s life, that lying to God is a serious offence.

Another aspect of this story is that the Holy Spirit is once again established as a person, not just some ethereal force. You can’t lie to an idea. You can only lie to a person. So again we have proof of the Trinity, and that the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and God the Son.

I hope your Wednesday is blessed. I’ll see you tomorrow. Until then, may God bless you richly. I’m Steve Webb.

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