I don’t know who came up with the idea of a “white lie”, as if whitewashing something gives it an air of purity. Let me tell you about white—I’m from the old-school nursing profession that wore white everything. White uniform, white cap, white hose (yes, hose), white shoes. You know what WHITE does? It accentuates every little spot, highlights any little stain or imperfection. I suppose it looks clean; it just doesn’t always stay clean for very long.
Really, there is nothing purely innocent about a “white” lie. It may quite likely show situational dirt at some point. And yes, I’m guilty as, you know,…sin. However, the hidden deception of grading our “sins” is actually more insidious and viral than simply being caught. It is more in the false perception that I’m “not as bad as…” or conversely, that I’m “worse than…” Then there’s always the corollary, “I could never…” (NEWS FLASH! If you have the human genome, then yes, you could.)
So I find this little information from the book of Numbers, buried and seldom read, quite encouraging:
As the recently freed Hebrew nation is getting ready to continue their trip to the Promised Land, a leader from each of the twelve Israelite clans now brings a “dedication” offering to the recently completed tabernacle. This is interesting, because they had just taken a census of the people, and regardless of the size of each clan, the prescribed (and very expensive) offering was the same. Each tribal offering included:
- A silver platter and silver basin (of prescribed weights) both filled with choice flour and olive oil
- A gold container filled with incense,
- A 21-piece set of certain livestock, (see Numbers 7:13-17)
As mentioned, the dedication offering for each tribe was identical regardless of the “size” of that particular community.
I see this a just another clue embedded within God’s Word about the coming of the promised Messiah: Regardless of how “bad” or how “many” our sins may be, the offering is always the same—the sacrifice of Jesus. Dear reader, you don’t need any more (or any less!) of His blood than I do. Jesus paid it all.
He is also the reason for THIS season.
I have mentioned about “white” lies in teaching and preaching for some time, but I never thought about the fact that white tends to show blemishes more than other colors. Another great blog!
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Many thanks for your thoughts and response!
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Good stuff Dawn. Made me think of the Pharisees and their whitewashed tombs, clean and pretty on the outside but still filled with rotting corpses. Like us when we try to justify ourselves through our works and legalism instead of the sufficient and full payment Jesus made.
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Even though I’ve known that for years, God still had to practically hit me over the heart with it–Satan’s lies are just so pervasive when it comes to this critical point! Happy REZ Day to you and family!
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Back at ya!
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I enjoyed this read very much. Happy Easter!
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And the same! Thank you so much for reading!
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Nice insight. I can see this as a great visual for youth groups – having them split into different size groups and asking them to consider their sin and what they should bring before the Lord and see what they say. Then make it purely about money – what amount of money would they offer across the various groups. It would be interesting to see what they say when thinking in non-monetary terms versus monetary terms. I think then showing them all the same offering in a visual – though they are different sizes they all have to bring the same offering so what does that speak about our sins and brining them before the Lord. I love how you ended it with the note about you needing the same amount of blood as I do. Thank you for sharing the great insight.
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Many thanks! Let me guess–you’re a youth leader! If so, let me thank you also for your courage and fortitude! If you’re not one, perhaps you should be!
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Thank you and yes I am a youth leader. I work with middle school girls. 🙂
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HAHA! I’m a school nurse at middle school, and help with a girls’ club there! God bless you! What you do is so very valuable!!
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That is wonderful! Keep up the creative thinking and great writing! Have a wonderful weekend.
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Also, I just found this and you might like it with your girls! https://youtu.be/l9vn5UvsHvM
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Thank you! Always good to find new resources.
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Thank you! Always good to find new resources. This is good because we just talked about Moses in the last lesson on self-esteem!
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I hadn’t made that connection, of the size of the tribe yet still the same offering. I have heard the analogy of how we look at sin – as heights of different buildings, some taller than others. Look out for the skyscrapers! But to God, looking down on sin, they’re all the same – no height difference. Sin is sin, no varying degrees with Him.
Thanking Jesus for the sacrifice that covers them all! Happy Easter, Dawn!
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Back at ‘cha!
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nice incite, wish I had seen that…it’ll preach
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Great observations. A lie is a lie is a lie. Different sins may have different consequences in this life, but the Offering was the same. That should make us pause to think before we fib.
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Count me in! There is enough blood for me too. Come join us; enough for you too. Beautiful thought, dawnliz.
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