They wanted the power of God but not the relationship with Him that is required to wield it. They were sons of a leading priest so they had plenty of religion. Unfortunately for them, religion contains no power outside of the relationship with Christ. I love how the Scripture says they tried to use the name of Jesus. How much of that do we see today in the modern church? Works of the flesh and this world wrapped up in the name of Jesus. Entire congregations being moved by emotionalism instead of the Spirit of God. Blaring music and driving drumbeats. Passing off works of charity or worldly goodwill as fruit. But there is a fundamental truth that we need to grasp today. While, you can fake religion over many many years; you cannot fake the fruit of the Spirit over long periods of time. Let us look at Ananias and Sapphira. These were two of the early believers in the church and the Book of Acts tells us that they sold a piece of property they owned and held back part of the proceeds before giving the rest to the Apostles. While there is nothing wrong with that, they pretended to give the entire proceeds. Why? So they could look more spiritual than they were willing to be! They could not fake the fruit of goodness and kindness here however:
Then Peter said, "Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren't lying to us but to God!" -- Acts 5: 3-4 (NLT)
We cannot lie to the Holy Spirit yet we see behavior similar to this in churches today. People more concerned with appearing spiritual than abiding in Christ. Always having to pray the loudest. Always having to get the credit for serving in ministry. A grandiose and showy spirit within the body of Christ. Remember that anything that distracts from God by definition is not of God. If we behave differently in church then we do at home, including how we pray and worship, we need to check ourselves. When you abide in Christ, you do not worry about such things because the only thing that matters to you is serving God.
What we invest our time in is what we value and what we will see grow in our lives. I understand the pressures of time; I really do and fight against them as well. I get some one-paragraph devotionals sent to me each day and it seems sometimes as if I am rushing to get them over with instead of waiting to hear from God through them. Well, you don't understand preacher -- I have three kids! Do you really think God blessed you with three children so you could spend less time with Him? If we really peel away the hours in our days, we find the time for the most innocuous, or banal things. When we find ourselves at the end of the day giving God the scraps of our time, we run the risk of becoming visiting Christians. We are failing to abide in Him. There is too much at risk in our lives and the lives of the unsaved for that. The power is not in religion; but relationship.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- August 1, 2012
