The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

The Truth Will Come Out

Early Greek tragedians obsessed over deception. Reading the plays of Sophocles and Euripides, one might conclude that they lived in societies paranoid that a web of half-truths and lies prevailed. Their mythical figures spoke in riddles; those who tried to evade prophecies unwittingly played into the hands of fate. When the truth did finally come to light, it often appeared only when calamity had already struck. We may feel this way about various aspects of our lives. Paranoia may plague our opinions on politics, our neighbors, even our family. Honesty once broken takes a long time to rebuild. Thus, scrupulous honesty in our dealings with others is one of our most valuable assets.

The workers described in 2 Kings 12 realized the value of trustworthiness. They were so well known for their complete honesty that they weren’t required to give an account for how they spent the vast amounts of money allotted for the temple’s reconstruction.

How different that scene in 2 Kings is from the scene in Genesis 3, where God confronted Adam and Eve and demanded an accounting from them after their fateful encounter with the serpent. For the first time in this first couple’s lives — which had been perfect, stress-free and marked by an ongoing, intimate relationship with their Creator — the two garden-dwellers were asked to account for their actions to God himself. Why? Because they had listened to the serpent’s lies, compromised what they knew to be the truth of God’s Word and allowed sin to invade paradise.

Can you relate? Maybe your lies don’t seem serpent-sized, but even so-called white lies can open the door to compromise and sin. Maybe you don’t tell the whole truth about the money you’ve spent or about why you can’t take on a project or about the company supplies you took home. But even the Greek tragedians knew that lies don’t stay hidden forever. When a lie is discovered, we risk losing the trust of those we most value.

Wouldn’t it be better to live like the straightforward workers in this story? Their reputation for “complete honesty” went before them, gaining them the respect of their superiors and even the king.

Taken from NIV Women’s Devotional Bible