Acts 5:2

and kept back {some} of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

     As you read this story you can almost see what is going through the minds of Ananias and Sapphira. They had just recently seen Barnabas sell his property and give the money to the elders. Barnabas is the epitomy of unity of the first century church, and is used that way by Luke’s narrative. What he did was very praiseworthy and you can imagine that it was something that people noticed and spread. It may have even been this story that began the trend of him being called the “son of encouragement”.

     The attention given to Barnabas for this great act was not lost on Ananias and Sapphira. They see the attention that has been garnered upon them, and it becomes their undoing. Somewhere in their heart they desire the glory that was given to Barnabas. So they come up with a plan in order to receive the same praise. They decide that they will lie about what they sold their property for. It is bad enough to do something righteous for evil motives, but to pretend to do something righteous is even worse. They want all of the recognition with none of the sacrifice.

     To say that God did not appreciate their actions is an understatement. God struck both of them dead. It seems as though God would us be in open, honest rebellion rather than to decietfully appear as though we are following Him. God desires us to do good out of love and righteousness. Many times we do it because we want the appreciation or the recognition. Instead we need to do it because it is a noble thing to do, not because we want others to think we are noble. Otherwise our fates will not be much better than Ananias and Sapphira.

and kept back {some} of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.