The Lie   

A lie is like a snowball: the further you roll it the bigger it becomes.  Martin Luther

Have you ever told a lie?  It gets easier the more you practice it.  Lying often starts with the simplest of motives but gains momentum the further it goes.  The crazy part about lying is that it if you go back to its source there is often something minor that starts the ball rolling. 

I was watching the news where Lance Armstrong confessed to using performance enhancing drugs.  Many people are angry over this issue.  It just made me sad.  The excuse he gave was that he did it to level the playing field.  Leveling the playing field was the motivation but at what cost. 

If you really think about what this one lie cost him here on earth it is astronomical by earthly standards.  I am sure when he told the first one he probably didn’t realize how far he would go in the cycling world.  He probably didn’t think he would get the sponsors he did, or make the money he would through the very lie that started it all. 

If you take it one step further, what is the legacy he will leave his children?  Their lives will be forever changed by the lie. 

It is easy for us to sit on the sidelines and judge his behavior, but we often don’t see that we are lying in our own personal world just as he lied in his.  We decide that we will not be transparent in our personal lives to save face or to cover up our sin.  So we lie to our spouse, our parents and our children.  We may not have as much at stake in monetary value as Lance Armstrong, but what about heavenly value.

The question I ask myself is this.  What is my lying to others costing them?  Then I take it one step further and what happens if the lies I tell cause another person to stumble.  The thing that we often don’t understand is that the way we live can be a lie.  That lie can lead others to stumble and how will God view that when we stand before Him? 

I think of the story of Cain and Abel.  Each brother brought an offering to the Lord.  The Bible doesn’t say why God didn’t accept Cain’s offering but he did accept Abel’s.  My best guess is that Cain most likely didn’t offer the best of his crops and God knew it.  Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and the fat.  Then there was Cain’s jealousy of Abel after that offering.  So then Cain tells the ultimate lie.  When God asks Cain “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain responds by saying to the Lord, “I do not know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?”  Now there is a lie to end all lies.  My theory is that Cain was motivated by greed and jealousy.  His offering didn’t give God the best and he became jealous when God accepted Abel’s offering. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are lies I have told in my lifetime that make me ashamed.  I have lied when the truth would have sounded better.  The sad part is You know when I choose a lie over telling the truth.  In my human nature I often think that no one will know.  The thing is You know and that grieves my heart.  I want to live in truth even when it may cost me.  Thank you for providing a way for me to repent and return to You.      

Scripture:    Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.  So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”  Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”  And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” Genesis 4:2-12