"I Never Knew Him!"

When Jesus needed him most, where was he?
Warming himself by the fire, acting like
He was from any place but Galilee,
Passing himself off as an urbanite!
When the third one asked, "Are you not one?",
He denied his Savior, adding an oath;
Then the cock crowed; he knew what he had done,
And felt the Lord's eyes across the whole host!
He turned and ran, hiding the bitter tears,
Recalled his vain boast at supper last night,
"I'll never leave you, Master; have no fears",
But Peter did do it, before first light!
Of all the lies that have ever been told,
"I don't know Him" exacted greatest toll!

Lying is a sin; it is a violation of God's Ninth Commandment. Simon "Foot-in-the-mouth" Peter had done it again---jumped in without thinking of the cost, like he did when he saw Jesus walking on the water. He had promised his Lord that if He was arrested, he (Peter) would never abandon Him. But he had run away, and he had added lying to cowardice by denying that he knew Jesus three times. Jesus forgave him and restored Peter to leadership of the apostles, responsible for spreading the gospel over the known world. His bumbling days were over, and he was a bold and effective leader from that time on.

The 9th commandment prohibits "giving false testimony", as in testifying in a trial, but it is much broader than that. It prohibits all lying, even so-called "small white" ones. It means it is a sin to falsify our income tax reports; to keep quiet when we are given extra change by a clerk; to pass a 12-year-old child off as 11; to put 13 apples in a bag and tell the checker there are 12; along with every other form of cheating. It is lying to tell your date that you love her when all you're doing is trying to gain a sexual favor. In fact, an old trick by boys was to assure the girl he would not "go all the way" if she let him fondle; it usually worked, and only rarely did he keep his word. A new dating trick is to drug the coke; that's not only a lie; it is sexual assault.

Like the sin of coveting, lying begins in the mind as only a thought, but it leads to horrendous multiple sins. Carefully think back over your life; rerun some experiences through your mind. You may discover instances of lying for some sort of gain; this you must seek forgiveness for, and resolve that it is to be eliminated. A Christian cannot continue those practices; if he does, there is reason to question the genuineness of his repentance.