Lying is something that most Christians would find wrong and distasteful. However, in practice, lying happens more frequently than people would like to admit because it takes on many shapes and forms.
Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it,and that he may bless you before his death.”
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” Genesis 27:5-13
Rebekah’s love and partiality for Jacob led her to conjure up a deceitful plan to ensure that Jacob would get the best blessing and inheritance from his father. In her mind, she must have convinced herself that she was partnering with God in fulfilling the word He spoke to her about the older serving the younger.She could have thought that time is running out and something has to be done.If we are compelled by a certain outcome, we will compromise our values and will we justify our actions by spiritualizing them.
In the name of love or loyalty, people step into the realm of lying and cheating for the benefit of themselves or their loved ones. They may justify it by saying they are protecting their loved ones, or they may claim that this one time the issue is important enough that the truth needs “twisting” or “exaggeration.”
When Rebekah opened the door to lies and deception, it caused her family to be torn apart for years. Jacob received what she wanted for him, but she and her entire family had to pay a high price for it. I doubt if she had understood and considered the consequence of her sin, she would have attempted to do what she did.
Lying is a short-cut to God’s purpose. If we really want something badly enough, when the opportune time comes, we would have a hard time saying “no” to the temptation of lying. Rebekah took the short-cut and received what she desired, but it wasn’t God’s way. God’s purpose comes with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If we try to achieve God’s dreams through our carnal efforts, the outcome will not bring about joy. As a matter of fact, the outcome could be very bitter.
How badly do you desire the promotion, higher income, best school,marriage , or acknowledgement? Do you find yourself manipulating the circumstances to ensure others won’t acknowledged or receive the credit they deserve? The only way we can ensure we won’t fall into lying is to trust God regardless of the outcome.
