So another Bible study method is to pretend like I'm a producer and I am setting up a scene in a movie.

So here goes... here is the scene... a guy and his wife get together and find out they can have a lot of money if they sell some land. Maybe they are caught up in the moment or whatever but they decided they were going to give all the "benjamins" to the church, but as they are counting the money and see the amount, they feel the cold, hard cash between their fingers, they start to second guess that choice. So they come up with a simple "white lie." Ananias will go in first and offer an amount, it will be something that believable and he'll just tell a little lie, everyone will believe him and then they'll go on their merry way. Second, Sapphira will enter and confirm the amount and no one will be none the wiser. It's perfect! Well, until EVERYBODY DIES!

Wow, what a scene hunh? What's the point? Umm... scratching head... I'm thinking. I'm not exactly sure, but I'll take a stab at it. You need to remember that in Acts 2:45... it was popular for everyone to sell their property and possessions for the greater good of the community. In essence, when these two, with held their "money" they were robbing the community of believers and they were being dishonest for no reason. It showed here that they could have just picked an amount but they didn't they concocted a lie, simply for the sake of lying. I know there is more to this, but I think the main point here is give all you can to the work of the kingdom... remember material goods and possessions will pass away. This is truly an issue of the heart. In Acts 2: 47, it says because of these sacrifices people were being "added to their numbers and being saved."

Question: are you like the everyday person that lies to conceal their God given gifts or who withholds money for their own gain, when the kingdom is in need of them?

somethin to chew on hunh?

Acts 5:1-4