Best of Both | Week Four | Day Two
Justice
Read today’s passage below to see how justice is innate in each of us. People carry the conviction that oppressors should be punished and the weak protected. Everyone knows that things are not as they should be and that things need to be made right. When you see evil in the world, you see the need for justice. In its simplest form, justice sets things right. Eventually, God will make all things right.
Acts 5:1-11 NLT: But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”
5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”
9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
Ask yourself:
What does the passage say about God?
What does it say about justice?
How does this view of justice differ from your own?
How would you feel if Ananias and Sapphira were your best friends?
How would that change your view of God's justice?