“But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?” ~ Acts 5:3
REFERENCE:
Acts 5:1-11
Imagine there was a scanner we had to walk through, which could inspect our actions and buzz if there was Sin in our lives or our motives were unholy and distasteful. Many of us would be mindful of our thoughts and actions if that were. But actually, there is a scanner like that – the Holy Spirit. He is a discerner of our hearts; when there is Sin within, He says, ‘sins spotted.’
Ananias and Sapphira did not live in a sophisticated world with such a gadget. They did not know nothing could be hidden from God or His power and omniscience. So, they colluded to keep the truth away from their pastor, misleading him. They failed to realize that the Holy Spirit spotted everything they did and heard everything they said.
Sin is not something to trifle with (all forms or categories of acts that go against God’s truth). We often think that we can get away with certain things and that God understands; at other times, we look at Sin as a choice we make for pleasure, but from Peter’s rebuke to the couple, Sin is much more than that. We see a full investigation of Sin’s nature from Peter’s words:
a. The source of Sin is satan. Peter said, “Why has satan filled your heart to lie…?”
b. Sin is inexcusable. Peter said, “Was it not in your control to do whatever you wanted?”
c. Sin is ultimately against God. Peter said, “You have not lied to men, but to God.”
All these should let you see Sin differently. Every Sin is avoidable, so he who persists in it is inexcusable before God. God sees every hidden work of darkness and calls us to shun them. Ananias and his wife had a choice to make, but they chose to lie to the Holy Spirit, and, ‘buzz… sin spotted” was the verdict, and they were severely judged for it.
If you struggle in any area of your life, expose it to God today, ask Him to forgive you, and give you the power and grace to say no to every enticement of satan’s to Sin.
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
John 13:27, Psalm 51:4, and II Corinthians 4:1-2
PRAYER:
+ Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my Sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my Sin is always before me. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me, in Jesus’ name – Amen. (A PRAYER FROM PSALM 51)
