When Sapphira refused to say no

When Sapphira refused to say no

TEXT: Acts 5:1-10

The early Christians had a culture of sharing their belongings amongst themselves but Ananias wanted it shared differently.

Everyone else seemed to know he also had land and maybe they were expecting that he would sell it and share it with others just as they had shared theirs with him but on the contrary, he didn’t want to share the money from his land equally with everyone else. He believed that as the owner, he deserved to keep a bigger share for himself and his wife.

Perhaps he would have thought, “Why should I own a land and share it equally with people who don’t know how I suffered to get it?” The thought that Peter wouldn’t even find out must have crossed his mind too but the only person who could make them know the truth was his wife; he had to think of a way to make her say the same thing he had thought of saying to them when they asked for the proceeds of the land.

So he had a discussion with his wife about what to do, “We are going to remove some certain amount from the land money and tell Peter and the others that we sold it for less, and then we can share the rest amongst ourselves.”

Sapphira knew what her husband asked her to do was a sin and she had a choice to make – should she do what he wanted or should she just say ‘no’? Perhaps she thought to herself, “I know it’s wrong but I would just do it and confess to God later.” Little did she know that it would cost her her life.

Maybe if she had said ‘no’ to him and told him that his plan was a sin against God, she would probably have saved his life as well as hers. They could have given whatever amount they preferred to give, told the truth, and lived longer. Instead, they died in sin and didn’t have the chance to repent before they did.

Sapphira’s refusal to say ‘no’ brought her untimely death and eternity in hell. How sad!

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, help me resist every influence that will cause me to disobey your instructions. I ask for the courage to do the right thing and not cooperate with evil in Jesus’ name. Amen.