In a conversation with some persons few days back
The same phrase was repeated “There are some cases that only lying can save you and you don’t have any other choice than to just lie” Now if you are reading this you must have either come across people with the same view or might even be one yourself ..that’s okay
Some years back, I was really young it was one of those morning devotion moments and she had taught us to always tell the truth, She assured us it pays to always say the truth with the regular, if not boring phrase “the truth shall set you free”
In my mind, i wasn’t gonna buy that though, knowing how many troubles I’ve gotten into and how many strokes of the cane I’ve absorbed by just Telling the Truth
When, where and how has it ever set me free(I listened with all diligence anyways)
Then her Son,my little cousin asked her this “But mummy, if telling the truth sets free, how come I get into trouble whenever I say the truth to you” He might have forgotten her reply, but it stayed with me through the years and has guided me even before I found truth for myself She answered “Telling the truth might get you into trouble in the SHORT RUN but it’ll certainly set you free in the LONG RUN But often times we see the now and neglect eternity, We want to lie now to get out of the current situation, we totally forget the impending long run consequences of our actions as long as our short run is covered our long run can wait (In that, is no wisdom at all)
I was led to study Daniel chapter 3 this morning and this WAS brought to my notice to share it here Shedrack Meshach and Abednego refused to bow to the image molded by Nebuchadnezzar and when they where confronted, where asked by him to simply bow to the image and be saved from the fiery furnace of fire A shedrac, Meshach and Abednego with the SHORT RUN mentality, will be like “O king Nebuchadnezzar, we of course serve your God and will even bow to it in your presence if that will convince thee” After all, they’ll save their ass from a whole lot of short run troubles eg, their precious lives, their offices and the life of comfort they enjoy under the king Nebuchadnezzar(God, and eternal hell can wait, after all when they go back inside, they’ll ask for forgiveness, isn’t he a merciful God?)
But, they had the LONG RUN mentality and settled for the TRUTH in the midst of inevitable danger and brutal death. their response thus was: (Dan 3 verse 16-18: O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he’ll deliver us from your hand, O king.
BUT if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Now that sure is a confident reply, damning all fear of Short-run consequence) Well, they were thrown in the burning fiery furnace as promised, and it was heated 7 times more such that it even burnt the men that bundled them to it(common guys, you could just take back all you said and bow to this molded image and save your precious lives)
No they were determined to not sell their birth right over a mere porridge, they were determined to not sell their Heavenly citizenship over a mere earthly one
they were determined to not deny the immortal king of kings over a mere mortal king who can’t even save his own ass. The fire didn’t burn them(not even their garments) God came to their rescue cos they trusted in him and they were promoted by the king Nebuchadnezzar and he even made a decree that anyone who speaks amiss their God will be punished
(Wow, The Truth truly sets free indeed) imagine, they had the short term mentality, they would have denied their God, feel miserable afterwards, if they owned a conscience and remained stagnant of course and a walking corpse(the wages of sin is death, even though they’d still be breathing) conclusively, there’s no situation that will leave you with no choice than to lie.
No matter what the situation is, You still have the choice to be truthful and secure God’s acceptance over man’s acceptance. Lying is never an option. Do not sell your birthright over mere porridge.
Author: Elenora Amarachi Paul