Friday, April 12, 2013

A legacy of lies...

"Telling a half truth is the same as telling a whole lie."

How many times have we heard our parents say this?  I don't know about you, but I heard this more than enough times.  Yet, how many half truths do we tell...?

Maybe you don't struggle with half truths or whole lies.  Perhaps you always tell the pure, unadulterated truth, never embellishing anything.  If that is you, great!  Wonderful.  You can stop reading now, because this post is not for you.

As we studied (in Moms' Bible Study) Abraham and Sarah, and then later Isaac and Rebekah, I was struck with a scary realization.  I lie.  A lot.  Way more than any God fearing Christian should.  I don't mean that I have grand webs of lies, or that I tell tales with the intention of hurting people.

Nope, my lies are of the more "innocent" variety.  You know, pretending your are not home when someone calls.  Using a little fib to get out of doing something you don't want to do.  Even glassing over a few parts of a story that don't make me look great.

I don't even call them lies... did you see that?  I pretend, I fib, I glass over things.  I don't lie.  Yeah, right.  

The scary thing is that I am a mom.  I have a beautiful little 2 year old who is watching everything I do and everything I say.  She is in full blown parrot mode.

What am I teaching her?  I tell her that lying is bad, lying hurts.  I tell her that lying only leads to further consequences.  But like any child, she is paying WAY more attention to my actions.

This brings me back to the Bible.  Twice in the story of Abraham and Sarah, Genesis 12:10-13 and Genesis 20:1-2, the couple lie.  They lie to the king and the pharaoh about their relationship.  
Genesis 12:10-13:  Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.  As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.  When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.  Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
 Genesis 20:1-2:  Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” 
When we read this scripture it is easy to see why they would have lied.  If they told the truth, that they were husband and wife, Abraham may have been killed so the ruler of the area could take possession of his beautiful Sarah. 

They lied to save Abraham.  Well, kind of lied.  They half truthed... since they were half siblings.  (Gen 20:11-13)  Either way, Abraham and Sarah agreed to deceive people, instead of having faith that God would protect them.

Later we find their son Isaac doing the exact same thing with his wife Rebekah.
Genesis 26:7-9:  When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”  When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.  So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”  Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
Isaac's parents taught him that it was okay to lie.  Abraham and Sarah used a half truth to protect Abraham, and Isaac and Rebekah used a whole lie to protect Isaac.  Both couples choosing deception over faith.

The legacy of lies continues on and on and on through out scripture, and in our families.

We can tell our children to, "do as I say, not as I do," until we are blue in the face, but we all know how that turns out.  Our children grow and reproduce our bad behaviors.

So, parents and grandparents, what kind of legacy do we want to leave for our kiddos?   Surely not a legacy of lies...


Lord, please help me to hold my tongue when I am tempted to lie.  Help me to be truthful and to teach my child that telling the truth is always the best option.  Guide me in raising my little one, leaving behind a legacy of hope, and truth, and love.  Amen.


Monday, April 1, 2013

Eve - "The Crown of Creation"

Speaking as a woman, I sometimes feel very insignificant.  Okay, I feel this way more often than I probably should.

I mean, you read the Bible and it seems like men are doing all these awesome things!  Noah built an ark, Abraham was the father of nations, Daniel survived a night holed up with some ravenous lions, Elijah called down fire from God onto a waterlogged altar, David not only whooped up on Goliath, but also became King, and, of course, we can't forget Moses and his amazing water parting skills!  Geez!  That is just the tip of the iceberg of the men found in the OLD testament. 

Now, I am not stupid.  I know that all of these men were born by women, and many of the men in Bible had the support of some lovely ladies.  But, we don't often hear about them.

Honestly, in my pre-Christian days I knew of two biblical women.  That's right two.  Eve and Mary.  The biggest screw up ever, and the mother of Jesus.  At least that is how I saw it up until few years ago.

The Bible was not a place for women.  There were not any realistic role models.  I mean, who wants to look up to a women who caused the Fall of Man, and who can compare with the mother of Jesus?


Boy, was I wrong!

Last month our Moms' Bible Study group started taking a look at women and their importance in the Bible.  Wow!  I have learned A LOT!  My hope is to share some of the important things I have learned with whoever wants to read them.  Enjoy!

The first lady worthy of honor is Eve.  

As I said before, my knowledge of Eve was limited to her role in the Fall of Man.  However, my take on Eve, and women as a whole has greatly changed.

Without going into too much detail, there are two versions of the creation story found in the Bible.

The first is found in Genesis 1-2:4a.  This version is believed to be written more recently (about 500BC).  The second version of the story of creation is found in Genesis 2:4-25, and was written around 1000BC.  If you want to read more on why there are two creation accounts, and why they differ, please check out this site:  Priestly Vs. Yahwist

For the sake of this post, I am going to use the Creation Story found in Genesis 2:4-25

To paraphrase the scripture:  God created the earth.  God created man. God created a garden, plopped man in the middle, and created trees and plants.  God commanded man to take care of the garden.  God told man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God decided man needed a helper.  God created animals.  Adam names animals.  Nothing suitable for Adam is found.  God causes Adam to go to sleep.  God removes Adam's rib and creates woman.  Adam names God's new creation woman.  
*Whew! Take a deep breath!*

Now, there is something more to this story.  Something I missed for years.  Let's look at it again...

God creates the earth; this beautiful, wonderful planet.  God creates man, in his image (Gen 1:26); a creature designed to care for and rule over the earth.  God creates plants and animals; all serving a special purpose and crafted with special beauty.  Yet, something is missing, or shall we say someone.

God creates, and creates, and creates.  He fills the world with wonder, purpose, and magnificence.  But something isn't quite right, not yet.

God had not yet created Eve.  Eve was not an afterthought.  She was not simply another creation in a long line of creations.

She was God's final brush stroke.  She finished creation.  There was something missing, Adam desperately needed a partner, a helper, a companion.  He needed someone who completes him, who could journey with him.  He needed a counterpart.

As John and Stasi Eldredge state in their book, Captivating,
"Given the way creation unfolds, how it builds to ever higher and higher works of art, can there be any doubt that Eve is the crown of creation?  Not an afterthought.  Not a nice addition like an ornament on a tree.  She is God's final touch, his pièce de résistance.  She fills a place in the world that nothing and no one else can fill.  Step to a window, ladies, if you can.  Better still, find someplace with a view.  Look out across the earth and say to yourselves, 'The whole, vast world is incomplete without me.  Creation reached its zenith in me.'"
 So, ladies, while we may sometimes feel insignificant, we are anything but insignificant to the One who created us.  Slap a big smile on your face and remember that creation is not complete without you!



Dear Lord, please help women to see their place and their value in Your kingdom.  Guide us in teaching our daughters to be beautiful and confident in faith and love.  Amen.