PROGRAM SUCCESS – JANUARY 2009
PAGE 35
FROM GOD’S CORNER
“DID YOU LOSE WHAT
YOU HAD TRYING TO
GET WHAT YOU GOT?”
By Aundra Bryant
Tallahassee, Florida
The Rev. B. W. Smith who gained great notoriety for his insightful sermon “Watch Them Dogs” also recorded another sermon shortly after
entitled “Did You Lose What You Had, Trying To Get What You’ve
Got?” As I thought about that particular message my mind went into
reverse and I thought about Ananias and Sapphira in the Book of Acts,
Chapter 5 verses 1 - 2 which says “Now a man named Ananias,
together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his
wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself but
brought the rest and put it at the apostle’s feet.” I am sure that you know
the rest of the story, Ananias lied to the apostles and he fell dead. However, this is not the end of the story, three hours later, the apostles asked
Sapphira about the money that they had sold the land for and she too
lied and dropped dead.
There are three things that I think we can lose in our attempt to grasp
after material things. Firstly, we can lose God’s faithfulness in us.
Please don’t misunderstand, I am all about going higher in the Lord
and I feel that we should strive to get all that the Lord has for us but in
our striving we have to be careful. I have seen people in the body of
Christ who were so diligent and faithful until the Lord bless them with
better jobs, hom es and educational opportunities but now the only way
you can get them to church is like I heard a preacher say “put them in
a gun and shoot them there”. So we don’t want to lose God’s faithfulness in us as we travel this tedious journey.
Secondly, if you recall the apostles did not tell Sapphira what had happened to Ananias when they questioned her, she gave the same reply as
Ananias did. We don’t want to lose the trust and integrity others have
in us. It doesn’t matter if you are a democrat, republican or independent, you need to tell the truth and abide by the Book of Micah, sixth
chapter and eight verse says “He has shown you 0 man what is good
and what the Lord requires of you but to do just, love mercy and walk
humbly with thy God”. This should be the platform of every person
including those running for public office.
Finally, even in 2009 we as members of the body of Christ cannot
afford to lose sight that God has three attributes of power. He is omniscient because he knows everything, he is omnipresent because he is
everywhere at the same time and he is omnipotent because he has all
power in his hand. As we close this particular lesson today, let us
remember the words of the great gospel tune “You can’t beat God’s
giving no matter how you try. Just as sure as you are living and the
Lord is in heaven on high, the more you give, the more he gives to you,
just keep on giving because it’s really true”. Brothers and sisters let us
remember our time, talent and treasures all belong to God.