RESPONDING TO LIARS

BY PASTOR RON DEBERRY

“Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.’”
— Matthew 2:7-8 (NKJV)

Have you ever been lied to by a person you trusted?

King Herod told the wise men to go to Bethlehem and find the Christ that was born, so he could worship Him as well. Herod lied, as we discover in Matthew 2:16. His intent always was to kill the Child, because of his jealousy and fear of a new King. Fortunately, the wise men were given discernment in a dream, so they did not tell King Herod. The wise men simply returned to their homeland another way and did not have to interact with the deceitful King Herod. 

Let’s talk about a lesson in this story, which may not be a typical lesson from the Christmas story. One lesson deals with how to respond to those who would propagate lies and try to deceive you into following them. While God may, on occasion, make it clear that you should confront the liar, many times the best approach is to return to your “homeland” by another way, i.e. just ignore the lies and go on about your business. Of course, this approach takes discernment from God. But He will give it to you if you ask! See James 1:5. It also takes grace, which God gives liberally as well. See Romans 5:1-4.

Prayer: Dear God, give me the discernment and grace to just ignore lies and go about my business.