And indeed, she is also my sister; she is daughter of my father only, not the daughter of my mother. And she is my wife. It was at the time which God caused me to wander from the house of my father, I said to her, “This is your loving-kindness which you shall do for me: in all the places which we enter, say of me, ‘He is my brother.’”

(Genesis 20:12-13)

A former pastor of mine used to tell me, “Win, the devil can justify anything.” Indeed, how often it is that we fall into the trap of justifying what we want even though it may not be the right thing to do. Abraham is trying to get away with doing just that here and it seems that God will allow him to do so; in his grace, sometimes God chooses not to punish every sin in this life, choosing instead to pass over them while at the same time, ultimately laying them upon the shoulders of his Son, Jesus Christ. In addition, while in a technical sense Abraham is telling the truth, the statement that Abraham makes is designed to mislead and thus is a lie regardless of his bride’s bloodline.

How often we are guilty of not only justifying our actions as if that would make them less sinful in God’s eyes, but also of telling lies and manufacturing “truth” to fit your situation. How often we tell lies without thinking about them or go to great ends to construct lies to suit the ends that they want to achieve. Even in the church, lies often abound and justification quickly follows for the purpose of minimizing the guilt of breaking God’s law.

Loved ones, sin is sin. Let us be honest in that principle and not make light that which God has commanded of us. Let us commit to the truth and commit to God’s command. Let us make the decision not to justify what we do when it is contrary to God, but let our yes be yes and our no be no with no “in-betweens.”