Psst!...Want to know a secret?
by Phil Coulson
…why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
http://www.thirsty4god.co.uk
Privacy, confidentiality and secrecy are similar but different things. For example, respect for privacy means we do not ask people about their salary or other personal matters. Confidentially means we do not share with others matters that are entrusted to us. But secrecy has to do with the hidden things of the heart, the things that I do not want anyone else to know.
Some secrets are fairly trivial, such as the age of some ladies! Other secrets are darker, perhaps those concerning my viewing, listening, and personal habits. Secrets, by definition, are not often shared, but Ananias and Sapphira had a secret that was to claim both their lives. They did the same thing as Barnabas at the end of ch.4. They sold some land so that the money could be of help to their fellow saints. However, the motive of the couple was very different from that of Barnabas. They must have promised all the money to the Lord because the “keeping back” in vv.2 and 3 means “to embezzle”. They wanted to be esteemed among their brethren as Barnabas was, but they didn’t want the sacrifice. That motive was their dark secret.
The otherwise unknowable secret of the couple was laid bare by the Holy Spirit. Each was challenged, and lied. Both were buried the same day. How terribly the holiness of God and the reality of the Holy Spirit in the new church were demonstrated!
Secrets lurk in all our hearts. To know them we must read our Bibles because “the word of God…is a discerner (revealer) of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4.12). The next verse tells us that “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do”. So there are no secrets really!
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