S T O N E S
What Stone Will You Let Jesus Roll Away Today?
May 5th, 2023
DISHONESTY: Honor Among Thieves
Luke 24:2, ‘But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.’ (NKJV)
“I love the imagery of the stone that covered Jesus’ tomb rolling away when He defeated death. The reality is, we all have stones in our lives…but the good news is: Jesus Christ rolls stones away!” (Christine Caine)
There’s no bigger boulder than that of deceit. What’s more, it might have begun as a very tiny pebble which impossibly grew into a slab of stone. Impossible, because in science, rocks don’t grow, increase in size, multiply, or mature. If anything, they crumble, deteriorate, decay; rocks are crushed, busted to smithereens, become dust which particles are blown away. But, in mankind, the stones we need rolled away often have enlarged, evolved, bred and produced and metastasized.
I remember when my dad told me years ago, at a time when I lied more than I told the truth, ‘a lie will take you to a place you never intended to go; cause you to stay longer than you ever intended to stay; and it will cost you more than you ever intended to pay’. Decades of years later I still hear his words resound in my heart, and I also bear the blemishes of the warnings he gave me which I did not heed. There are scars the enemy meant for my harm, but Jesus used for His glory and my good, the stones He rolled away.
The history of humanity is built on latticework of deceit and lies. Deception has flourished like a weed since almost the inception of humanity. We find in the very first Book of the Bible, Genesis, at the very beginning of the world, when the Spirit hovered over the deep and time stood still, that the serpent which deceived Adam and Eve, bringing about the fall of mankind, was ‘more crafty and cunning than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made’ (Gen 3:1). He is a sneaky snake, and he uses treacherous tactics to cause us to trip up and preempt our downfall. He is a phony—fraudulent—and he will be the first to whisper in your ear to tantalize you, and the last one to ever stand for you; except he will essentially stick around long after to remind you and me of our failings. While it is ultimately our decision, his practices are beguiling and beleaguering, and they lead to death. He plays for keeps, and before we know it, the enemy’s manipulation casts a shady haze on our actions and puts a false word on our lips.
Deceptiveness has long been my foothold. You know, when you’ve told so many lies, you no longer know what is truth, and what is false. I assure you, if this rings familiar to you, pay attention. It will ensnare you; you will lose the trust of your peers and colleagues and family…just like the ‘little boy who cries, “WOLF!”’, costing more than you ever wanted to pay. And the disasters which might ensue from your whispered schemes might take you to places you never chose to go. And, finally, you likely will find yourself stuck far longer than you ever planned to stay somewhere. It is the grace of God that rolls aside the stone of deceit, that wipes a slate clean, so ‘she speaks truth’ and it is believed.
“IT IS FINISHED!”
