The world’s most persistent lie still persists …

According to a study by the University of Massachusetts, 60 percent of people can’t go 10 minutes without lying.

Bits & Pieces, way back in 1993, published a list of some of the most famous “fibs” Americans tell. You may have heard (or told?) some of these:

• • The check is in the mail.
  • I’ll start my diet tomorrow.
  • We service what we sell.
  • Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.
  • Money cheerfully refunded.
  • One size fits all.
  • This offer limited to the first 100 people who call in.
  • Your luggage isn’t lost, it’s only misplaced.
  • Leave your resume and we’ll keep it on file.
  • This hurts me more than it hurts you.
  • I just need five minutes of your time.
  • Your table will be ready in a few minutes.
  • Open wide, it won’t hurt a bit.
  • Let’s have lunch sometime.
  • It’s not the money, it’s the principle.

A problem with lying is that you can’t tell just one, as Austin O’Malley explains:

“A lie has no legs. It requires other lies to support it. Tell one lie and you are forced to tell others to back it up. Stretching the truth won’t make it last any longer. Those that think it permissible to tell white lies soon grow colorblind.”

So once you tell one lie, you’ll persist in telling others — at least until the truth is brought to light.

There’s one lie, though, that has outlasted all others. It was originally told some time shortly after creation, and persists to this day. That’s because it’s very effective in its evil purpose. Here’s the lie:

God is holding out on you.

That’s the message Satan, in the form of a shrewd serpent, convinced Eve to believe. Check it out:

“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?’ ‘Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,’ the woman replied. ‘It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, “You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.”‘ ‘You won’t die!’ the serpent replied to the woman. ‘God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.’ The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too,” Genesis 3:1-6.

Satan’s deception with Eve was to get her to believe that there was something more, something better she could have or experience, but God was holding out on her by denying them the fruit from just one tree.

Eve bought the lie, and like her, so do many of us.

We tend to think we’re missing something, that life could be fuller, or happier, or richer, or just better in some way but God is holding out on us, or holding us back.

Jesus directly challenged this lie with the truth, starting with Himself, and then defending the Father:

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life,” John 10:10.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents — if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him,” Matthew 7:7-11.

Quite the opposite of holding out on us, the Bible helps us understanding that all that is good in our lives comes from God, and that He has blessed us so richly it’s astounding:

“So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow,” James 1:16-17.

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding,” Ephesians 1:3-8.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires,” 2 Peter 1:3-4.

Do you think God is holding out on you?

Don’t believe the lie.

Scotty