“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
~ Genesis 12:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you think that it is okay to sometimes tell a lie – if the lie is a white lie about not having already purchased a Christmas gift for someone or if the lie is told to keep from having to hurt a friend or if the lie is used to save your life? What is a lie to you? A lie is to falsify truth. Do you think that it is okay to not tell the truth at times? Has there been a time when you have not told the truth – like to your dad and/or ma or to your teacher or to . . . how do you feel when you lie or when you do not tell the truth? What may happen when you tell a lie – or when you do not tell the truth? Does a lie or not telling the truth lead to another lie or again not telling the truth? Ask your dad if he has ever told a lie or if has not told the truth to someone. Ask your dad how he felt when he told a lie or when he did not tell the truth to someone. Ask your dad if he suffered a consequence for telling a lie or for not telling the truth to his dad and/or ma. Would you lie to God if you could see God? Abraham lied. Abraham talked to God even though he could not see God. Abraham lived about 4100 years ago. Abraham – when he was a young guy and his name was Abram, moved with his dad from Ur to Haran. God spoke to Abram after Abram had lived for a time in Haran. God asked Abram to leave Haran and go to a land area called Canaan. Abram’s dad had been heading for Canaan when he stopped in Haran and ended up staying in Haran. Genesis 12 has Abram’s story of when he left Haran for Canaan and then what happened in Canaan when Abram and his wife – Sarai, arrived in Canaan. Abram did exactly what God had asked him to do. Lot – who was a nephew of Abram, went with Abram to the country where God wanted Abram to settle. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Sarai was sixty-five years old. Abram, Sarai and Lot took all their possessions and their slaves with them when they left Haran for Canaan. Before Abram left Haran to settle in Canaan, God made a promise to Abram. Verse 2 says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” When Abram, Sarai and Lot arrived in Canaan with all their possessions and with their slaves, they went from a tree located near Shechem to the hills east of Bethel and then on towards the Negev. Because it had not rained in Canaan for a long time, Abram, Sarai and Lot kept right on going until they arrived in Egypt – where there was plenty of food.
When Abram arrived in Egypt, Abram was worried that the Egyptian Pharaoh would kill him so that he could claim Sarai to add her to his harem of wives. Before Abram and Sarai crossed into Egypt, Abram and Sarai agreed between them to lie. Abram would tell the Egyptians who they met that Sarai was Abram’s sis instead of telling the Egyptians who they met that Sarai was his wife. Even though Sarai was already sixty-five years old, Sarai was still a very attractive gal. Because the Egyptian Pharaoh really liked Sarai, the Egyptian Pharaoh added Sarai to his harem of wives. Abram was given all kinds of animals – such as sheep, cattle, donkeys and camels, as well as slaves just so that Sarai could be one of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s wives. How do you think that God felt when Abram and Sarai decided that they had to lie so that they would not be killed? When Abram and Sarai lied, Abram and Sarai were telling God that they did not trust Him to help them out in the predicament that they found themselves in when they trekked to Egypt to find food to survive. How would you feel if you did not have enough food to eat? Your grandpaa is sure that you would begin to feel really stressed. Your grandpaa knows that guys and gals sometimes do not make good decisions when they are under a lot of stress. Your grandpaa knows that his body does not handle stress well. One year – after your dad had started to live back in the United States and your grandmaa, grandpaa and Aunt Lynn were living in Bolivia, your dad that year joined the summer team that came to Bolivia. A short time before your dad and the Bolivia summer team arrived in Bolivia that year, your grandpaa had a sliver from a piece of wood get stuck under one of his thumbnails. About a day or so later, your grandpaa had a small pebble become jammed under the thumbnail of his other hand. Your grandpaa was in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez when this happened. By the time that your dad and the summer team arrived in Guatemala, your grandpaa had a very bad infection under both of his thumbnails. When your grandpaa arrived in Santa Cruz to meet the summer team, your grandpaa went to a doctor about his thumbs. The doctor had to cut off a third of the thumbnail from one of your grandpaa’s thumbs and a half of the thumbnail from the other thumb of your grandpaa’s other hand to make sure that he had gotten out all the pus that was under your grandpaa’s thumbnails. It hurt your grandpaa a lot when the doctor removed a part of both of your grandpaa’s thumbnails but . . . to get rid of the pain that your grandpaa was feeling from the infection that was under the thumbnails of both of his thumbs, your grandpaa needed to trust in a doctor to do what the doctor needed to do to stop the infection – which was getting worse and worse in your grandpaa’s thumbs. When your grandpaa met the Bolivia summer team that year, your grandpaa had both of his thumbs heavily wrapped in gauze. There was a nurse on the summer team that year who daily willingly checked how your grandpaa’s thumbs were doing.
The small sliver and the tiny pebble that got under your grandpaa’s thumbnails are like lies. A lie will cause an integrity infection. The lie that Abram and Sarai told led to a grave malady inflicting the Egyptian Pharaoh and his family. The Egyptian Pharaoh made Abram and Sarai leave Egyptian before the disease . . . lies and infections will invariably cause hurt and pain. Doctors heal infections. God heals guys, gals and kids who tell Him about their lies.
Genesis 12 (212)