"Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet."
Acts 5:1-2
A Shocking Fact
I was recently listening to a podcast about manhood (Undaunted Life: A man’s Podcast), and the host mentioned something I’d never heard before (I consider myself a little bit of a history buff and connoisseur of fine random facts).
Did you know it’s rumored that when knights of the days past got baptized in the Catholic Church, they left their hands out of the water while everything else took the plunge?
Why is that?
Well, it was because they knew their hands would be doing unholy things. So, rather than trusting and giving everything to God they kept a little to themselves just in case.
A Similar Situation
We see a similar situation in Acts chapter 5:1-10 with Ananias and Sapphira. At the end of Chapter 4, Luke describes how the church is sharing everything and there was no one in need among them.
Ananias and Sapphira wanted to join in on the movement (which was a good idea), however they kept a portion of the sale of the property for themselves.
They died as a result.
Similar to the knights, they were doing a good thing but not giving it all to God.
A Sobering Thought
Today as men, it’s tempting and easy to give “most” to God. (Heck that’s better than many men, we say to ourselves). But what are we keeping in our hands and out of the water?
Money, sex, work, sports, hobbies, kids, etc. We all have those things we want to keep for ourselves or think God doesn’t care about. But God wants us to involve him in every part of our life.
Live the Way God Intended
So take a hard look in the mirror this week. Think about what things you are “keeping out of the water.”
Confess that and give it to God. I’m guessing that then we will see what it’s like to truly enjoy those things the way God intended.
Thad Hardin
MD5 Facilitator