Contriving and Lying to God

During the first days of Plebe Summer after I entered the Naval Academy, my squad leader called us all together in my room and taught us how to make a rack, or bed, demonstrating with my rack.  Shortly thereafter, another squad leader poked his head in our room, commented on how good my rack looked, and he was gone before I could explain.

And I felt sick.

Not only was I being praised for something I didn't do, but, I thought I'd violated Naval Academy Honor standards.

A midshipman does not lie, cheat, or steal.

And that includes any type of deception.

Before I could even talk to my squad leader, the other squad leader went to him, and they recognized what had happened.  

They called us all together and talked about the incident.  They absolved me right away, but they also used the situation as an example of our obligation to be honest and trustworthy at all times.  

There's no place in the military, especially with officers, for anyone to "make himself look good" or to seek praise.  Our military protects our freedom, and it also values and protects the lives of all members, our fellow comrades.  When someone is deceptive, lies, or is self-serving, well, lives can be lost.  That's the bottom line.

I'm reminded of that incident every time I read Act 5.  That's the chapter with Ananias and Sapphira, the couple who sell their field of land and pretend to give all of the proceeds to the church.   

And this verse jumps out at me:

Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.  Acts 5:4b 

By nature, we all make decisions for our own advantage, we want to feel good about ourselves and about what we do, and we mostly don't even recognize that we do this.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?  Jeremiah 17:9

At the Naval Academy, we were made aware of this, and we were taught that it was to our advantage to not seek our own advantage or praise.  

The ultimate truth is - God sees all; He knows my heart; He knows what I'm up to; and I can't hide from Him.

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.  1 Samuel 16:7b

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.  Proverbs 21:2

It's overwhelming to wrap my head around this and to try to live it out.  And the cost of not living this out perfectly - my own soul, my life.

The good news is, Jesus came to die for my sins, all my sins, even my weak attempt at being selfless.  He came so that I would be forgiven and have peace with Him, have life and joy. 

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:7-8 

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.  Psalm 62:1