Bluffing Christians

Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.  And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.  And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.  And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.  And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.  And the other woman said, Nay: but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.  And this said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.  Thus they spake before the king.  Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.  And the king said, Bring me a sword.  And they brought a sword before the king.  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.  Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.  But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.  1 Kings, Chapter 3, verses 16-27.

This story of Solomon’s great wisdom reminds me of when I was little.  My sister and I had metal globe banks.  (I know this is dating me some.)  Our banks were kept at the top of our bedroom closet.  I remember climbing on something and taking the money out of my sister’s bank, because I wanted to go to the “Candy Store.”  (I was oblivious to the fact that they sold anything other than candy.)
I was almost out the front door when my mother stopped me.  She asked me where I was going and I told her that I was going to the “Candy Store.”  She asked me where I got the money to buy the candy.  Now, I thought I was pretty clever when I told my mother that Sally down the street had given me the money, because there really was no one named Sally.  I had made it up.  Well, my mother is definitely much smarter than that!  She told me that she knew Sally, and Sally had told her that she hadn’t given me the money.  Boy was my mother ever quick on her feet.  I had been caught in the middle of a lie.

I think God is quicker on His feet than even my mother was!  He knows what we think and what we do.  I don’t know why we make these lame excuses.  Do we really think that God is truly going to buy them?  “Ah, I’m not going to include this income on my tax statement because Uncle Sam gets more than his fair share anyway; besides this was just a side job for a friend.”  Or, “I really like these fine point pens they have at work.  I think I’ll take a few-oh yeah, I need them for a work project I’m going to do at home.”  (I’m guilty of this one.)  Why do we even try these things?  Who do we think we are fooling anyway?  God knows everything and still we Bluffing Christians find ourselves trying to validate doing things that we know are wrong.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.