God and Liars

Recently, while reading the book of Genesis, I was shocked to realize how much lying went on in the lives of God’s chosen people.  Abraham, to save his own neck, lied to Abimelech about his relationship with his wife, Sarah –twice.  Isaac did the same thing regarding his relationship with his wife, Rebecca.  Sarah lied to the angel when she denied laughing at the promise of God.  Rebecca and Jacob lied to Isaac to get his blessing for Jacob instead of for Esau.  Jacob was known as a deceiver.  And still God persisted in blessing those people.  Why, I wondered, when God hates lying, would He pick those people, out of all the peoples of the world, to bless?

Then I realized that God had no choice.  If he wanted to bless anyone, it had to be a sinner, because, until the birth of Jesus, there was no other kind of person available to bless.  Then I realized something else.  Many times I have prayed the prayer, “Show me if there is some wicked way in me.”  I should have thought twice before praying such a prayer, since God answers them, and sure enough, He answered that one.

Though I’ve always thought of myself as an honest person, I was appalled to realize that I am not so different from those liars in the book of Genesis.  My favorite way to lie is to keep my mouth shut and allow people to believe things that I know aren’t true, especially if that makes me look better, or makes my life easier.

The Apostle Paul was far more honest than I am.  In 2 Corinthians 12:5 He said,”. . . I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.  Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth.  But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.”  If I am honest, I have to say that I’ll take the accolades, warranted or not.

Though Truth has come in the person of Jesus, it is still true today that if God wants to bless people, he must bless sinners.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He still hates sin, but He also still wants to bless us.  That blessing includes calling us out, as He did for Abraham, Sarah, Jacob and the others, with the goal of having an ever growing relationship with Him.