7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. Acts 5:7-11

It’s one thing to withhold the truth from someone but it’s entirely different to lie when asked about it. The significant part of this passage is in verse 11. At this point, they all had to be asking the same questions we would ask. Because of what God was doing in their midst, they seemed to be operating under a different set of rules than what we would have today. We think it’s harsh that both Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they lied. I’m sure those who heard about it felt the same way.

The lie was wrong to be sure, but it was their greed that led to the lie.

In the movie “Wall Street,” a clerk asked a stock broker, “What’s your number? What the number you need to just pack it up and leave this all behind?”

“More.”

Are we like him?

How much is enough? It’s a question we all have to ask and answer sooner or later.