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Genesis 20:11-12

Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.”

Wait a minute: Sarah’s ninety-something years old now and Abraham’s still afraid that her beauty might be the death of him?! Boy she must be something! But notice the problem with Abraham’s rationalization here, friend. He doesn’t have some love-of-neighbor-type justification to lean on. He isn’t like Harriet Tubman who lied to slave-drivers in order to rescue fellow Americans, or like Corrie Ten Boom who lied to Nazi guards in order to protect Jewish refugees. He just lies to preserve himself. “But wait—hold on!” I hear him butting in. “I’m no liar! I was careful with my words. When I said, ‘Sarah is my sister,’ I was telling the truth!” Right, but not the truth that mattered most.    

Christian, fearing man leads to selfish ambition, and selfish ambition leads to compromising the truth, and compromising the truth leads to a world of heartache. I wish I could say I’ve learned that from Abraham’s failure, but I haven’t. Sadly, I’ve learned it from my own.