When our girls were little, I remember teaching them the importance of telling the truth. It seems that some children are more prone to lie than others, but at one point or another, all children will experiment with lying to their parents. I certainly did! I can tell you that I found the old adage, “Your sins will find you out,” to be quite true! When I was a little girl, my dad was the pastor of a small church in St. Joseph, Missouri. One beautiful warm day my brother and I were out playing by the church. We decided to throw rocks we had gathered from the parking lot up against the church building. Not a good idea! You can probably guess what happened next. Yes, we broke a window. Immediately we began to plot our “lie” as to how the window got broken. When my dad discovered the broken window and asked if we knew anything about it, we proceeded to lie. “Maybe some mean children in the neighborhood threw rocks at the church, or it could have been an unhappy church person, or perhaps it flew out from underneath a car or dropped from the sky. We didn’t do it.”
I woke early yesterday to rain and cold, we were in Nashville visiting family. As I sat in the corner chair in the guest room at my sister’s home, I decided to read through the last days of Jesus’ life here on earth. I opened my Bible to the book of Luke, beginning with the Wednesday before His death and moving right up to his death and resurrection. So much was jumping off the pages at me. God was revealing things I had never noticed before.
Reading in Chapter 22, as to the events of that Thursday prior to his death, we read Jesus’ words to Peter about his denying Christ. “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once you have turned once again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter replied, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death.” In other words, “There’s no way Lord that will ever happen. I wouldn’t lie about knowing You.” Jesus responds, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.” Just one day later, after Christ is arrested, we see Peter following at a distance,there’s safety in keeping your distance, or so he thought! He is sitting among the people. When a young servant girl points him out saying, “This man was with Him.” Peter denied it saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”Another sees him and says, “You are one of them too.” Peter responds, “Man, I am not!” Yet, another recognizes him and says, “Certainly this man was also with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” For the third time Peter denies Christ; he lies about knowing Him. At that very moment the rooster crows, just as Jesus said, and Peter is consumed with remorse and runs away weeping.
Recently, I was listening to a friend speak on prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit related to prayer. She was telling a story about a phone call she received a while back. The person on the other end asked her a question that placed her in a tight spot. She said for a split second she had a decision to make: tell the truth, as the Holy Spirit was leading her to do, or lie! She chose to lie. Immediately she was filled with remorse. When she arrived home she got down on her face and confessed her sin of lying to the Lord and asked Him to forgive her. Peter and my friend both love Jesus, yet they lied. God knew they would lie. The beautiful thing is that that is why He sent His Son! Forgiveness and restoration are why Jesus shed His blood on the cross.
My dad knew we were lying and there were consequences that followed that lie; he was a firm believer in corporal punishment! He wore a thick belt and didn’t mind applying it to our backsides! My dad had no choice but to spank us for lying to him. He loved us and desired what was best for us. He wanted my brother and me to realize that lying, sin, had its consequences. Peter and my friend learned that lying had its consequences. As a child of God, they were filled with quilt and shame as a result of their lies. Yet, God loved them and forgave them, restoring them to a right relationship with Him. He is a gracious, kind, forgiving, loving, and patient Father!
After Christ’s ascension we see Peter following the great commission Jesus gave to him and the disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Peter was a faithful follower of Christ; he was loved, forgiven, and restored, as I and my brother were! Will it be truth or consequences?
Father, help me to never lag behind. I never want to follow You from a distance, making myself vulnerable to the enemy. I want to be an honest child of yours, always desiring truth. I never want sin to separate me from You, my heavenly Father. Help me to be sensitive to the voice and conviction of the Holy Spirit- quick to turn from sin.
“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.” Leviticus 19:11
“Help us, O God, of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us and forgive us our sins, for your name sake.” Psalm 79:9
“Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old.” Lamentations 5:21
Dianne