ON THE VANGUARD

STRIKING A DEAL
“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.”
Acts 5:1-2

Sometime back my children and I were spending time reading the book of Acts before bed. We found ourselves reading a few scriptures in Acts 5, and then spending time discussing. It is in this chapter that we read of Ananias and Sapphira. The story picks up on the heels of Acts 4:32, where all the believers were of one heart and they began to sell their possessions and give the funds to the disciples for the furthering of the message. It turns out that the Holy Spirit moved upon Ananias and his wife, and together they made an agreement to sell a piece of property and give the full sum to the disciples. However, how many know that when the money is not in your hand it is a lot easier to make plans with it? Once the property was sold and the money collected, Ananias and his wife decided to hold some back for themselves.
Ananias took the money to the disciples, minus the portion he held back, and explained that he was giving the full sum to them. However, Peter questioned Ananias, “How is it that you allowed the enemy in so that now you have lied to the Holy Spirit? You have lied not to us, but to God.” With these words spoken, Ananias fell dead. In a three hour timeframe that followed, the body of Ananias was buried and the young men who did so returned to the home. While that was going on, Sapphira, who was unaware that her husband had passed, returned home to meet Peter and the others. Peter posed a few questions to her as well, trying to get her to admit to the truth. When she also lied in saying that the amount they gave was the full amount of the purchase, she too fell dead, in time for the young men to bury her body as well.
As I was reading this to my children, a thought came to mind. How many times have I found myself in the same shoes as these two? How many times have I promised God something but didn’t deliver on. When I was in my addiction I would do this often. I would say things like, “God if you help me fix my car for cheap, I will give up my addiction.” “God if you provide a way for this bill to be paid, find a way to save me in this problem, heal my sickness, etc, then I will quit.” The problem is, even when He did His part I had little to no intention of keeping my part. I tell you, if not for the grace of God, I should have suffered the same fate as Ananias and Sapphira for my offense against the Holy Spirit and God.
The point I tried hard to instill in my children that night in reading this account, is the same point I want to move forward with in my own life. I want my promises to not be empty. I don’t appreciate when people whisper sweet nothings in my ear. What good are they – they are nothings! I would rather someone tell me sweet somethings, and then back up their somethings with the actions they just said. And that is what God is looking for in us. He has too many people telling Him nothings, He wants somethings. I want to be one who moves forward telling Him something, and delivering in full on what I say. I don’t’ want to be one who just strikes a deal with no intention of keeping it, but one who follows through and delivers.