Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, April 15, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Oh how I really, really dislike this story. It feels like the source of the church’s justification for demanding financial support from people. “God will strike you down if you don’t pay up.” And while the original story might have been directed against a wealthy person, but it would later be used to oppress the poor and amass a hoard of wealth for the powerful in the church. It’s just gross. So what are we to take from this?
I guess I can see this is just an example of how insidious deception can be. In my recovery community, we say that “the deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves.” I can convince myself in a million ways that a certain action I take is justified, or that a chain of events that my choices have caused aren’t really my fault, or that I’m keeping something to myself out of some noble effort to protect others from hurt. Sorry, but I’m not fooling God. When I lie to myself or others, who am I ultimately lying to? And while I don’t believe for a second that God is going to strike me dead where I’m standing because of my dishonesty, I do know for a fact that the outcome of dishonesty is almost always pain for everyone involved. Better to deal with the pain of coming clean (and I won’t lie—it can be painful) and moving toward healing. Better still not to be dishonest in the first place (which can also be painful). God knows the pain of your heart, whatever the cause, and walks with you through it.
Is there something I need to come clean about today?
![1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24], God’s Care for the Widow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/bf37035e-33d5-439f-a0d6-a68b02d0f1bc/24-11-03.jpg)
