Devotion - Acts 5:3-5

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

You might fool man…but you will not fool God. There are many, even now, that think they are fooling God with their schemes but you are only fooling yourself. God knows a man by his heart. He sees and knows all.
The Holy Spirit speaks life and wisdom in the Apostle Peter as now Peter is privy into knowing the affairs of God in the moment of things. Peter boldly challenges the heart of Ananias. His challenges lay out the principle behind the proper way to give. Some have looked at this text and played out Peter to be the strong “how dare you” type of person. They play him out to be stern and disciplined about the whole scenario…but I don’t see that.

What I see is this…

I see Peter asking questions, “How did this happen…Didn’t it belong to you already…wasn’t the money at your disposal…Where did that thought even come from?” I hear the voice of someone who understands what it’s like to think one way and yet be another. Peter is no stranger to sin. He understands it perfectly well. I don’t hear condemnation in this scripture, I hear the holy concern and fear he has for Ananias…because just as the Spirit of the Lord is revealing Peter the truth…I can also imagine the Spirit is revealing to him the punishment…because as soon as Peter quits speaking Ananias falls over dead. God uses Ananias to set precedence in the early church…plainly put…he used Ananias to set an example. God is holy, his ways are holy.

As I studied this passage of scripture and really looked at this part of the history of the church, I was reminded back to something I had heard another preacher say about God…

He said this…

“The God of the Bible is unpopular because He stamps out His enemies until His feet are bloody” Pastor Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas.

This view of God isn’t popular, but it should bring into perspective how great is God’s mercy and grace. The Old Testament priest used to tie a bell on their robe and a rope around their waist. They did this because if something in your heart wasn’t right when you stood before almighty God, the other priest would quit hearing that bell ringing and would use the rope to pull you out…because your dead. Why, because God is a holy and righteous God. The God of the Bible is frightening and ferocious…make no mistake about it. However, how much greater is His mercy and grace.

How does a man find his way into this? How do we end up one day doing great and prosperous and then the next strung out on envy and greed?

Ecclesiastes 4:4

And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, records that “living like the Jones” is like chasing the wind. It’s futile and meaningless. It’s all vanity. Yet, we do it daily. We look at other people all the time and covet what they have. We must learn contentment. Lord help us in this area...